Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums banner

SPACE: The Imagination Station okayed for HD by CRTC

82K views 233 replies 88 participants last post by  msgohan 
#1 ·
Hi everybody, I sent an e-mail to SpaceTV to know if they add any plans for hd soon, they replied that they're planning to be 100% hd soon but that's all they wrote back, does anybody know more about it.

THANKS
 
#94 ·
On a smaller CRT set SD looks fine. But on a 10 foot screen Space in SD on Shaw cable looks terrible. It looks a little better on Bell, and shows like Battlestar look best using torrents and HD mkv files. Even the smaller SD avi downloaded files look better than Space in SD.
 
#97 ·
Lots of ways to look at this, my take is if it is not in HD I generally will not watch it>The frustrating part of living in Canada vs the US is the amount of HD in Canada is paltry compared to the US> I would love Space in HD, it is not therefore I do not watch that channel anymore. As soon as it goes HD I am back!!!!!
 
#99 ·
On the bright side if the Bell purchase of CTV goes that might finally mean more HD channels like Space because Bell knows the customer want it and will gladly pay for it and that means money.

On the other hand, not everyone has a 50-60" tv and therefore not everyone has those problems. I have a 32" hdtv and have no issues watching SD or HD content.
 
#100 ·
^
On the other side of the coin Bell, with their cable over IPTV rolling out, would smart to only offer their HD channels on their service so the competition is left with the SD only feed. Perhaps, at most, work out a deal with Shaw to trade off channels since they'll own most of the BDU owned channels when this is done.
 
#101 ·
I think it unlikely that Bell get cute like that and start locking out other BDU for the simple reason that every BDU has their own arsenal of channel to retaliate. The more likely scenario is that Bell might be tempted to cut price of their content on their platform as a way to get bigger market shares. By owning a big chunk of the content they may use it as a loss leader to sign more peoples up. If we had real competition in Canada that would have happened a while ago already!
 
#102 ·
HD even looks quite alot better then SD on my 42 inch TV. I also stopped watching space. Its one thing if the program was made in SD, and theres not alternative (rerun of older show). Its another when the show is made in HD, and SPACE doesn't broadcast it in better quality.

I think alot of people just end up getting those shows from alternate sources.

I'm not sure how good satellite SD content is, but I use Shaw cable, and SD digital isn't even as good as a dvd, so the lack of quality in digital is much more noticible on a larger tv.

anyways if SPACE is going to shell out for new sci fi shows.. ones that are made in HD, they should have the deciency to start broadcasting in HD.
 
#105 ·
The question now is, will the purchase of CTV by Bell increase the likelihood of us getting SPACE HD sooner? I think it might. Not that I like the idea of Bell owning CTV, anymore than I do SHAW owning Global, but there might be further incentive to convert more of the specialty channels to HD - the popular ones at least. Space and HGTV are the only two I'm waiting for.

-Mike
 
#107 ·
Where is the proof of HGTV HD coming soon? Anyhow, I think Shaw and Bell will start pumping out more HD because it only makes sense. People want HD and will pay for said HD, so why not make it available to the customers and charge them through the nose. After all, if they want it bad enough, which they do, they will pay. And so it only makes sense for them to launch more channels. On a side note i've heard Corus will be launching some HD channels soon, like YTV and I think W, but of course this is not 100% confirmed, just something they mentioned before in a response they gave me.
 
#110 ·
I am sorry to report that the word from inside 299 Queen street is that there are no plans to move forward with HD on Space Channel. It is simply not in the budget.

This is very disappointing for me as well. Maybe letters and emails will help.

:(
Save your time for something else. As I've mentioned here before I used to send an e-mail to Space every couple of months asking about HD. The only answer I got was that they were talking about it. The problem is that they don't want to spend the money as they know that people who like Space will watch anyway in SD and because of CRTC regs. they have no competition in this market for the foreseeable future. I've reached the conclusion that Space may actually be the last service of all to switch to HD. They have no reason to do so.
 
#111 ·
For English Canada HD migration is just hopeless. CTVgm hasn't launched a single HD specialty channel since 2003 (less TSN2). That shows you right there where there priorities are. Canwest only has 4 HD specialty channels, Corus has none (Less Movie Central/Encore Avenue; which are premium channels), Astral has no English HD channels (Again less TMN/Mpix; which are premium channels).

Heck Canadian broadcasters are still launching channels in SD only. What channel launches in SD only in 2010?...I guess a Canadian channel!

BDU's aren't helping with the situation either. The likes of Bell and Shaw Direct have done very little to allow for future expansion of HD channels. They are both pretty much maxed out of bandwidth and no signs of gaining much more before 2012. Cogeco drags their feet on upgrading even some of there largest markets such as Hamilton. Shaw Cable much the same...the have the weakest HD lineup of all the BDUs and they serve pretty much every city in Western Canada.
 
#113 ·
Heck Canadian broadcasters are still launching channels in SD only. What channel launches in SD only in 2010?...I guess a Canadian channel!
I think the CRTC should have a mandate that new channels MUST be in HD only. SD channel launches should not be allowed. I think that makes sense in today's 16x9 television world. Why continue to pursue the 4x3 market where no products are even sold in that format !!:confused:
 
#114 ·
I'm with you jumpy27. I've given up on Space for anything but the occasional daytime Star Trek rerun. Any of the new SyFy series (which ironically are pretty much ALL filmed in Canada!), I just download.

I can see Space eventually going away because of low ratings if they don't do something. And "management" will never figure out (or simply won't care) that ratings are low because better options are available. It's pretty easy to get the same shows in HD (and sooner!) elsewhere.
 
#119 ·
I'm with you jumpy27. I've given up on Space for anything but the occasional daytime Star Trek rerun. Any of the new SyFy series (which ironically are pretty much ALL filmed in Canada!), I just download...
+2 here. I used to try to do the "right" thing by purchasing my Sci-Fi HD content from iTunes. But recently current seasons are not yet available due to licencing issues. So now... I just download.
 
#121 ·
Rogers can keep adding HD specialty channels. What can Bell or Shaw do? They both have little to no room to add additional HD channels.

Also Bell over inflates their HD channel count. They count every Sports PPV and Movie PPV as one channel when in reality there is only about 5 or 6 dedicated feeds. Most of the channels carried on Bell are locals which are not really applicable to Rogers customers. Rogers carries all channels available in HD that are local to a particular market.

Rogers has many channels not on Bell; Big Ten Network HD, Speed HD, Mfun HD, MXS HD, Omni.1 HD, Omni.2 HD, CHCH HD, Headline News HD, HDNet, History HD, Movietime HD, TVO HD. Do I need to continue?

Rogers is really the only cable system that carries the majority of English specialty channels. Until the likes of Cogeco, Shaw, Bell, Videotron and Eastlink catch up with the times. Were stuck in SD stretch-o-vision waste land.
 
#123 ·
Rogers has many channels not on Bell; Big Ten Network HD, Speed HD, Mfun HD, MXS HD, Omni.1 HD, Omni.2 HD, CHCH HD, Headline News HD, HDNet, History HD, Movietime HD, TVO HD. Do I need to continue?
I don't believe it's many and Bell does carry Mfun HD and MXS HD. You've probably listed all the differences otherwise. Now I would prefer Rogers HD lineup to Bell's, but I don't think the differences are staggering. Bell has room to add channels and maintain the current resolution, but I agree they are getting very stingy. Removing HDNET was a mistake.

Anyway, I'm confident that if Space HD was available, Bell would carry it.

-Mike
 
#124 ·
The point I'm trying to make is if say CTVgm or Shaw Media were to launch a suite of HD simulcasts (Lets say 6 channels), both Shaw Direct and Bell probably can't come up with the room to add all of them without first changing their technology (which both have stated they are not in a position to due just yet). This is partly the reason why I don't think we have not seen much from these two companies. As some have argued, why would CTVgm invest in HD when very few of the BDU's are capable of carrying much more then what they have.

If they decide to launch just one HD simulcast in 2011, then you are probably right, Bell would most likely add it. If they were to launch 5-10, I have serious doubts they will ALL be available on Bell (At least the satellite arm anyway).
 
#126 ·
I think SDV has a ways to go before it actually provides Roger's more bandwidth for additional channels.

Both our Satellite companies have a means to offer more HD channels, they just choose not to implement it because it cuts into their profit. More importantly, they don't have to do anything! Once again it's our protectionist government that's the real problem. Allow Dish or DirectTV into Canada and watch how fast Bell and Shaw move to MPEG4. The technology isn't the problem.

-Mike
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top