Online Consultation on Television Services - Access to local programmi... http://television.askingcanadians.com/access-to-local-programming-in-a-d... Home > Access to local programming in a digital environment Access to local programming in a digital environment The CRTC is looking at whether it should provide the television industry with more flexibility so that it can adapt to changes in the comm unications environment, which include digital technologies. The ultimate goal is to ensure that Canadians can benefit from the broadcasting system. One option we are studying is whether local TV stations should be able to charge cable and satellite companies for distributing their programs. As of August 31, 2011, over-the-air broadcasters must turn off their analog transmitters in order to make way for digital television. Digital television enables the broadcast of high-definition (HD) programming, which means sharper pictures and better sound. A converter box (for older TV sets) or a new antenna may be necessary to receive digital programming. Broadcasters must upgrade their current transmission equipment in order to be ready for digital television. However, new transmitters are expensive to build and the majority of Canadians already receive their television programming through cable or satellite. Free local over-the-air television (received using rabbit ears or an antenna) may only be available in major Canadian cities after the digital transition. As a result, some viewers outside major markets may no longer receive their local TV stations after the transition. Access to local programming may be available outside major markets through satellite distributors, such as Bell TV and a proposed FreeHD Canada service. These distributors are looking at the possibility of offering a small number of local TV stations at no charge provided that consum ers purchase the necessary equipment to receive them, such as a satellite dish and a set top box. They have said that they would discontinue this service or charge a monthly fee if they are required to pay local broadcasters for distributing their programs. Your opinion matters to us. You are invited to share your views on the following discussion questions. Discussion Questions: 1. Do you think allowing local stations to negotiate for the value of their signals would have an impact on the industry’s current or future business plans, especially as it prepares for the transition to digital television? 2. Does the industry require any support or incentives to implement the transition? If so, what type? Share this post Share 3 retweet Tags: cable, localtv, satellite, upgrade You are commenting as a Guest. Optional: Login below. Comments for this page are closed. Showing 1238 of 1238 comments Sort by Popular now Subscribe by email Subscribe by RSS Roland 1 month ago 119 people liked this. I am opposed to supporting local TV stations with an extra fee collected by the cable company from it's customers. These TV stations are businesses. If they can't make money with their present business m odels they need to change their models so they are profitable. Collecting a fee from customers, adm inistered by the cable companies, is wrong on many 1 of 267 12/01/2010 4:23 PM Online Consultation on Television Services - Access to local programmi... http://television.askingcanadians.com/access-to-local-programming-in-a-d... levels. First, why should I pay if I don't watch those channels? How do you collect from customers who watch those channels over the air, and hence are not customers of cable companies? Technology is going to change and we will soon watch "TV" over the internet. How will the local channels collect from those viewers then? Changes in technology put virtually 100% of the businesses that made wooden wagon wheels out of business. The ones that adapted to the new technology of autombiles from horse and buggies survived and those that refused to change with the new technology failed. If the local TV stations can not make money in the face of change they should be allowed to fail and should not be saved by what am ounts to a tax on consumers to prop up an antiquated industry unwilling to adapt. Flag Like Carl B 1 month ago in reply to Roland 81 people liked this. The financial problems of conventional broadcast networks are of their own making. Part of the problem is that the owners of the networks have been siphoning content and advertising away from their terrestrial channels to feed their overpriced speciality-TV offerings. Another huge part of the problem is the cost of servicing debt incurred through ill-advised merger and acquisition activity. CTV buying CHUM (which in turn bought Craig) is bad enough for taking competitive options away from consumers, but a look at Global (which bought most of the Hollinger newspapers and the Alliance Atlantis speciality channels) shows that this debt, not the cable TV companies, is to blame for the company's sorry state. Concentrating control of huge amounts of media in such very few corporate hands runs directly contrary to the public interest, depriving Canadians of alternative voices. Ordinary Canadians should not be the ones to foot the bill, whether directly or through higher cable prices. The US Federal Communications Com mission would never have allowed the main networks to control enough stations to directly reach the majority of the population; they are instead forced to rely largely on separately-owned affiliate stations. Odd that no similar protections exist in Canada. The public may well be better served by letting companies like Canwest fail so that the assets may be broken up and put into a larger number of hands, ensuring a more competitive domestic media marketplace. The decision of a company to reduce consumer choice by buying competitors using borrowed money is an expense which has little or nothing to do with the DTV transition and not one that should be passed onto viewers. Flag Like Gary 1 month ago in reply to Carl B 22 people liked this. I totally concur with both Roland and Carl B. As for Roland's comment about watching TV over the internet ... don't worry, I'm sure the CRTC will make sure that we will be paying for that somehow as well or restricting us in some manner as they currently do. Terrible that in the world wide web I can't go to ABC's web site and view a program that I may have missed all in the name of Canadian content ie. Canadian commercials. And with online services like Skype I can't purchase an online telephone number. Canada is the only "industrialized" country where you can't get this type of service. Thanks CRTC. Flag Like DaveA 1 month ago in reply to Gary 9 people liked this. Keeping the CRTC on the straight and narrow to keep the Internet open is where it is at. Local broadcasting and cable TV in general is an inefficient and annoying for the consumers. Local cable TV is dying and in a few short years be obsolete as a service. 2 of 267 12/01/2010 4:23 PM Online Consultation on Television Services - Access to local programmi... http://television.askingcanadians.com/access-to-local-programming-in-a-d... If the locals want to compete, they had better get on the Internet PDQ. With on-demand and real time. If they pack too much adverts, people will move on. If they provide better services people will come. CRTC can't really force us to subscribe, only control us if we do subscribe. Best to proactively support net neutrality. So we have the choice on the Internet. http://saveournet.ca/ Rogers/Shaw/Bell/Telus already practice rate and packet shaping and are gearing up for it. Put QOS on services. But fortunately the uncontrolled nature of Internet, and what it offers to everyone makes it politicially and technically difficult. But it will not stop them from trying to control it at our expense. This way we get 2^32 media stations unfiltered and uncontroled. The real fight is for the Internet, this local TV station stuff is flack for the goose. Allows CRTC to sidestep what is going on with the Interenet. The only reason Shaw/Rogers advertise against a local TV tax is they know many will simply outright cancel their TV services than to pay more. Slap $10/m onth corporate welfare tax on us, and say 15% unsubscribe they loose money. It is that simple. And many likely will. I likely will. I like the way the Jananese have it, $20 gets you 160m bs download. They watch on demand-real time as a rule, not the exception. But they have a much more competative framework. Flag Like Marc N 1 month ago in reply to DaveA I agree, the future is with the internet that offers choice, even if there is a price attached to it. I am looking forward to the day when I can ditch cable and select high quality programming through the net. Flag Like Fat Albert 3 weeks ago in reply to Gary 1 person liked this. Dude, have you heard of proxies... use one to access tons of content on Hulu. Sign up for DirecTV... escape this sim sub mess. You do have choices... don't let the CRTC mafia dictate your ways!!! Flag Like Anon 1 month ago in reply to Gary 1 person liked this. Goody for you - you have access to high speed internet, still unavailable to millions of people in Canada. Industrialized - yes. But there are vast areas in this great land where TV is only available via satellite and none of the content is remotely relative to their community.