Bell Media filed an intervention in response to CBC's analog applications for London (CBC), Kitchener (CBC), and Windsor (SRC):
https://services.crtc.gc.ca/pub/ListeInterventionList/Documents.aspx?ID=159490&Lang=e

Some excerpts:
2. At the outset, Bell Media respectfully submits that these applications should be returned to CBC for procedural reasons.

4. The Guidelines further state that “since the resulting Commission decision could directly and negatively affect respondents, they must be served with the application (section 22(1)(b)).”1 These applications, in which CBC is asking to what amounts to preferential treatment with respect to the digital transition as set out in several Commission policies dating back to 2007, would negatively affect not only Bell Media but other licensees of OTA television stations in the affected markets. Therefore, it is Bell Media’s opinion that CBC should have indicated in their applications that there are respondents who would be affected by their applications and that copies of the applications should have been served on Bell Media and other potential respondents. Moreover, we would like to note that in June 2011 Bell Media filed two applications for new rebroadcasting transmitters associated with our OTA television station CKVR-TV Barrie. In that filing, Bell Media did not indicate that any respondents would be affected and the Commission subsequently returned the applications. (These applications have since been re-filed and are now before the Commission for consideration).

5. However, should the Commission determine that these applications meet the all the appropriate procedural criteria, Bell Media submits that these applications should still be denied as the CBC has chosen to file an application at the eleventh hour for an exception to a long-established Commission policy.

7. The conversion to digital has been a process several years in the making yet CBC has chosen to file their present applications a mere six weeks prior to the deadline to the transition to digital. Furthermore, due to the limited time frame available until the deadline, the Commission has been forced to shorten the period for interventions to only one week. Bell Media submits that CBC, like all other OTA broadcasters in Canada, has had ample time to prepare for the transition to digital. We are at a loss therefore to understand why the applicant waited until the eleventh hour to file these applications with such little time for either other industry stakeholders or the general public to adequately respond. The Commission cannot treat one group differently from the others, especially due to the fact that all other licensees have been forced to invest tens of millions of dollars in the digital transition.

8. The applicant has erroneously determined that it was not necessary to provide any potential respondents with copies of their applications. Furthermore, CBC should have been adequately prepared for the transition to digital long ago as this policy has been in place for four years, and an application filed at the eleventh hour seeking preferential treatment from a long-established Commission policy should not be granted in light of the significant investments other OTA broadcasters have made in order to meet the 31 August 2011 deadline. Therefore, Bell Media believes there are sufficient grounds for these applications to be denied.

Right on, Bell Media! :)

Right on, Bell Media! :)
you don't hear that phrase very often.

Fair enough, but did anyone reasonably expect that Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, and a few other no-brainers WEREN'T going to be on the list??
CBC themselves believed they could get away with not converting Winnipeg over until 2012 and Calgary/Edmonton in late 2011.

The lack of leadership with regards to the CBC and DTV is.. often like the CBC itself.. painful to watch..

Does CBC have to follow the rules or do they get special status exceptions.They were foolish to think major cities would not notice an end to their OTA CBC signal.

you don't hear that phrase very often.
makes me feel ill to say so but they are right.

I dislike Bhell so much for their other shanaigans regarding UBB, but this one time...I find myself compelled to agree with them. CBC should be ashamed of themselves.

It's starting to look like a national uprising against the CBC's plans. Just wait until OTA sports fans lose their Saturday night fix. Heads will roll. :eek:

I agree with you guys on this. Things will go nasty at CBC this fall. I guess that some decision makers at CBC will hide under their desks when the NHL season starts back.

This is the first and only time I will be agreeing with Bell Media on something. We should expect a CRTC decision for London soon as interventions closed on the 28th (July) and I'm assuming they want this done by the 31st (Aug) at the latest.

Read the CBC response to Bell Media's intervention @ https://services.crtc.gc.ca/pub/ListeInterventionList/Default-Defaut.aspx?EN=2011-1107-0&Lang=e

I quickly read through the repsonse. The CBC did not directly respond to other intereventions that were submitted, and the CBC essentially said that they would not transition additional areas to digital, and

these technical amendments will enable Canadians in London, Kitchener and Windsor to maintain access to CBC/Radio-Canada’s OTA signals permitting those Canadians currently using OTA technology to transition to alternative means in a more gradual manner without hardship. Otherwise, these residents located in mandatory markets where the Corporation will not transition to digital will lose access to CBC/Radio-Canada's OTA television signals far sooner than Canadians in other locations as the Corporation will be maintaining all of its analog transmitters in these markets. In the Corporation's view, disadvantaging these Canadians in this manner would be directly contrary to section 3(1)(m)(vii) of the Broadcasting Act which states that the Corporation's programming "should be made available throughout Canada by the most appropriate and efficient means ...".


The CBC really didn't mention that they will be shutting down the analog transmitters in 2-3 years.

What a fiasco this is turning into. I really hope the CRTC forces them to go digital.

^^ me too!

We'll all have to wait for the CRTC decision/final ruling.

... the Corporation's programming "should be made available throughout Canada by the most appropriate and efficient means ...".
Which is ATSC broadcasting in major markets. I hope the CRTC rips the CBC a new one over this.

^^ me too! ;)

The CRTC's decision should be in the best interest of Canadians. London is designated as a mandatory market, therefore the CBC should be upgrading the CBLN transmitter to digital, regardless if CBLN is a re-broadcaster of CBLT (Toronto), and for all other reasons given in this thread. All other conventional broadcasters in the area will be upgrading to digital.

Londoners certainly have the most to gain right away if CBC is finally coerced into transitioning to DTV there, but this Bell Media intervention has even wider significance for other CBC cities in Canada, hence some posts about it have been moved here. :)Right on, Bell Media! :)you don't hear that phrase very often.Two old sayings come to mind: Credit where credit is due The enemy of my enemy is my friendJust kidding, CBC staffers, I am poking fun at your senior executives only! :D

The CRTC needs to put the foot down here and simply inform the CBC that the transition to Digital is a final decision in mandatory markets, stretching to other non-mandatory markets in the coming years. If they decided to pull transmitters, the impacts will be felt at license renewal time and the public impact is something they are going to need to deal with. I don't think the CRTC can "force" the CBC to add a digital transmitter, they can only tell them them to shut it down and not operate in analogue.

Like I've said before, I'd rather No CBC then CBC in analogue.. we are moving forward here.

The CRTC does have the mandate to force the CBC to transition any and all of its transmitters to digital in the public interest. If they wont, then it's time for the Feds to come in and force them. The Feds do have the power to issue a policy directive to the CRTC to force the CBC to act.

My understanding of the Broadcasting act is that there are limits to what the CRTC can do in this situation, since the CBC has a special status within the Act. For example, it can refuse to grant the CBC a license to broadcast past August 31, but it cannot force the CBC to apply for a digital license.

For example, it can issue a one-year license for analog broadcasting, but it cannot force the CBC to apply to convert it to digital. Cable carriage is not an issue, since the regulations guarantee the CBC carriage on cable systems even if there is no local station. It's not clear if those regulations could be changed without contravening the Act.

As for licenses that exist, the CRTC cannot revoke a CBC license without the CBC's consent. It can only refuse to renew one.
I am not a lawyer, your mileage may vary...

The government can use a carrot and stick approach. Force the issue by threatening to cut funding back. I dont think it would take the CBC long to reverse their decision.