I seem to get the best picture on tsn.ca using Chrome. It was still a bit blocky and soft but most of us were watching it from the kitchen anyway. Halftime show looked pretty decent.

Seasons Greetings,
Found this in today's Globe & Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/tech-news/tv-execs-sanguine-as-200000-canadian-homes-could-cut-cord-in-2012/article2272601/

Happy Cord Cutting!
Etobicat

So here we are down the road a ways. We should be keeping track of who promised to ‘eventually’, ‘will be’, and ‘by such and such time’ to transition more than mandatory locations. A goal and a running total. I am still waiting for Global to take advantage of the already approved license here at Rice Lake.

Just a friendly reminder this thread is meant to discuss real-life events, news article and such that help to popularize and inform people about OTA television.
This is not the correct venue for gripes against cable/satellite companies.
Thanks for your understanding and your co-operation in this matter.

I heard Oakley in the morning talking about OTA after the Super Bowl weekend. Sounds like CTV was not the feed to watch. Lots of callers with stories of their antennas.

Sorry if this has been posted before, but a study last June by research outfit Knowledge Networks (not to be confused with Knowledge, the educational station in BC) shows that "the number of Americans now relying exclusively on over-the-air (OTA) television broadcasting in their home increased to almost 46 million, up from 42 million just a year ago."

[KN Press Release] Over-the-Air TV Homes Now Include 46 Million Consumers (http://www.knowledgenetworks.com/news/releases/2011/060611_ota.html)

There was a great report on the Radio-Canada show la Facture for those who are interested. This is a consumer watchdog show. They went undercover to various Videotron and Bell stores, and also called these companies, under the premise that they used to get tv over the air, and asked if this was still possible. The reply they always got from these companies was that over the air, or free tv no longer exists, and that they have to get cable. It was outrageous. They later confronted executives with this.

The video is available on the Radio-Canada web site, or just google La Facture and look for the episode of February 14th, 2012. The report is also highly critical of the Government's Digital conversion "help". As it stands, the Government web site points to calling a phone number for more information, and when you call the phone number, it's just has a recording referring you to the web site for further information.

There was also good information about the appropriate equipment for over the air television, and that you may need to invest in a quality antenna depending on your location but that is was very possible to do. Wish there were more reports like this.

This has been fascinating reading for for me since in my home Australia OTA is the norm and our pay television operators struggle for market share.
Our pay television operators Foxtel and Optus actually advertise themselves on the OTA networks.

FYI we started simulcasting DTV in 2001 (DVB-T) and we are at the stage where our two national government networks and the three national commercial networks in all are delivering 17 programmes now and the capability of achieving 20 whenever they choose (ie one HD and three SD programmes each).
When DVB-T2 happens how they choose to use the increased bandwidth is not known at this time, more SD channels or same channels and change SD to HD?? Don't know yet, likely more SD due to lack of HD content.

By the end of 2013 all analogue will have ceased here.

Regards
James

@James T Kirk - There are some radical differences between TV in Canada and Aus. Most Canadians live close to the US border and Cable TV started in the 1950s in Canada as a way to get better reception of US TV stations since initially we only had the CBC in Canada. In the 1980s cable TV then evolved into pay TV stations but by then most Canadians were used to subscribing to cable.

The other difference is that's I'm pretty sure that the Aus govt has mandated that certain sporting events must remain on free television. This is not the case in Canada and (arguably) the biggest Canadian sporting event, the Grey Cup, has only been on pay TV for several years. So in Australia OTA hast he govt on its side.

^^^ Thanks for sharing this! I wish there was more of this watch dog type stuff going on!

Hi Wayne

Yes you are spot on, sports important to us here like test cricket, rugby league, Australian Open Tennis are always OTA (We call that FTA here, Free To Air)

James

^^^Here in North America, Free To Air (FTA) refers to free (unencrypted) satellite distribution. It has a bit of bad rap here as many have used FTA receivers to "illegally" decode pay services.

A friend of mine is transitioning to OTA after seeing my setup and so she cancelled her Rogers cable subscription as she was making some other changes to her other Rogers services, and Roger's asked her how she intended to watch TV without cable, and she said that she is going to install an antenna on her roof, and ROGERS responded that OTA no longer exists in Canada. Then she told him that no, she is going to have the same setup as a friend (me) and they just kept arguing with her telling her that she was wrong and that she must have misunderstood.

Basically, if she hadn't already been sufficiently informed about OTA thanks to me before-hand, she may have been influenced by ROGERS misinformation to keep her cable package.

My personal belief is that this misinformation is deliberate. This is exactly what the investigative show LA FACTURE revealed in the Quebec market as per my earlier post.

I believe we absolutely must keep talking about OTA to our friends and colleagues to increase awareness as the Government or CRTC certainly is not doing anything about this this misinformation.

Not enough awareness and the BDUs have been successful and deliberate in hiding the truth about OTA...

It's too bad that one of the big antenna and accessory manufacturers [eg: Channel Master,.. Antenna Direct, etc] don't invest into an OTA ad campaign to create awareness that OTA does still exist.

Right on Tweeter!

I suggest you get your friend to call the CRTC and include a written letter / email outlining her exchange with Rogers. That way, at least, there is a written account of what occurred.

Also, I just played with 'creating a group' on Facebook. Like this forum, it doesn't 'promote' OTA to the general public other than to those who are either already aware or are actively seeking more information about it. How one successfully promotes something without spending an arm and a leg on advertising is every marketers challenge?

When our local CHEK station converted their transmitter, I suggested that they put their OTA channel info on their news and / or website. I just left a voice message asking that question once again. Perhaps people could contact their local stations as well? At a minimum, people would see OTA 26 (or something) and may start asking, "What's OTA?"

Yours truly,
Fred.

A discussion here about the CBC's OTA Future as of 2012 has been moved into it's own thread:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=153161

So,,, why are these monopoly BDU companies not being held responsible for the lies that spew from their sales and customer service representaives? In allowing their sales representatives to lie in order to make a sale and/or allowing their customer service staff to lie to stop someone from cancelling a service,... they are guilty of breaking several Ontario consumer act laws.

See: http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_02c30_e.htm#BK17
Consumer Protection Act, 2002

S.O. 2002, CHAPTER 30
Schedule A

Consolidation Period: From January 1, 2011 to the e-Laws currency date.

Last amendment: 2010, c. 8, s. 36.

PART III
UNFAIR PRACTICES

False, misleading or deceptive representation

14. (1) It is an unfair practice for a person to make a false, misleading or deceptive representation. 2002, c. 30, Sched. A, s. 14 (1).

Examples of false, misleading or deceptive representations

(2) Without limiting the generality of what constitutes a false, misleading or deceptive representation, the following are included as false, misleading or deceptive representations:

6. A representation that the goods or services are available for a reason that does not exist.

10. A representation that a service, part, replacement or repair is needed or advisable, if it is not.

11. A representation that a specific price advantage exists, if it does not.

14. A representation using exaggeration, innuendo or ambiguity as to a material fact or failing to state a material fact if such use or failure deceives or tends to deceive.

It's hard to get worked up by salespeople lying to you because they do it all the time. Just yesterday I had someone from Telus come by who was trying to explain to me how Telus 15mbps ISP service is functionally just as good as Shaw BB50 and BB100 and was pitching the whole dedicated Internet line idea. All sorts of nonsense!

Most consumers have been around enough to know that this is par for the course when dealing with salespeople. Now, I'm all for getting the truth out, but I don't think we need to get the govermnent involved because salespeople lie (and fish swim).

Good point, audacity. Sales people have the seller's interest at heart, not the purchaser's.

If someone needs facts on OTA, they should be coming to this forum first! :cool:

I'm a salesperson and I don't lie. I don't have to because what I sell benefits my client. When I meet a person I can't help, I don't try to sell him anything.

Cable/Satellite salespeople are selling something that benefits their customers, too, and therefore, do not have to lie about it. Lying is wrong morally and legally and they should get in trouble for it from authorities if they do. I would like to see an expose on TV if salespeople are being trained to say OTA doesn't exist. We should be upset about lying from salespeople especially from large corporations. There are a lot of people who really can't afford subscription TV they should not be lied to about the availability of OTA. If BDU's don't want to advertize about OTA, that's fine, but they cannot lie about its existence.

In my family, the month we cancelled our cable and land-line was the same month we increased our RESP contribution by $150/month. With the bonus from the government and estimating a 4% return, I can predict that one of my children's university education will be paid for from money not spent on Rogers. To lie to a consumer and tell them OTA does not exist is wrong and illegal and hurts lives.

Salespeople are not inherently liars. But it is smart to be an informed consumer.