CBC's OTA Future: Discussion

[GeorgeMx]

Originally Posted by roger1818

^^^Certainly worth a try, but I wouldn't hold my breath. One of the issues the CBC is facing is distribution. The satellite feeds the repeaters currently use will be shut down and the national HD programming is sent in an unfinished format with the station adding local ads and programming (by remote control). Much of that local programming would not be available in Windsor so they would have to use an alternate feed.

The CBC would also not want to sacrifice the picture quality of their primary broadcast to make room for a sub-channel. Do that and see how quickly people complain about how bad HNIC looks compared to TSN.

The CBC has an obligation to deliver its programming to each cable company if it wants carriage so they must have something available on satellite as many smaller and remote cable companies don't have fibre connections. The same feed could be used for service to multiplexed broadcast transmitters. I think that an HD feed would be available which opens the possibility for downconversion to 480P or 480i in 16:9 aspect ratio.

Multiplexing a widescreen standard definition service on the transmitter with the CBC 720P HD is not going to cause any meaningful amount of degradation to the English language service even during sports programming. The HD service can run in 15 megabits per second and the SD in 4 megabits per second for a total of 19 megabits. Both the HD and SD service should look fine. Fox, NBC and PBS from Buffalo run with subchannels and have good picture quality.

[El Gran Chico]

There may have been a vision a some time to add local news but that is pure speculation on my part.

You are correct although I can't find any written evidence anywhere. I lived in London at the time CFPL de-affiliated and remember the discussion about a new CBC London starting but in the interim it would carry CBLT.

A very popular internet video site (you know who I mean ) has a clip of a "CBC Southwestern Ontario" station id if you do a search on "CBLN London".

[El Gran Chico]

This is somewhat encouraging. Sounds like London is one of those communities and perhaps Windsor might look at this too?

...unless a community decides to organize and negotiate to acquire the transmission towers and/or transmitters to keep analog going (or upgrade to digital) in order to maintain access to over-the-air TV ...

Guiton says he is willing to work with communities ...

http://rabble.ca/news/2012/05/how-sw...t-rural-canada

[roger1818]

^^^Interesting article El Gran Chico. Some interesting quotes:

But an outstanding question is: who will inform the affected communities of this option so they can investigate the possibility of acquiring the infrastructure? (The complete list of locations of the more than 600 doomed analog transmitters has not been posted.)

CBC will soon be hiring a national real estate broker to sell the 87 transmission towers that it owns outright, as well as the land they are located on.

Another 300 CBC towers, which are also used for radio transmission, will be not be sold, although the analog transmitters will be dismantled on those towers.

Finally, the CBC also leases space on about 250 towers (mostly owned by Telecom companies and other broadcasters). It will shut down its analog TV transmitters on those towers

My question is are there really over 600 towers or are the same towers being counted twice when they are used to transmit both CBC and SRC?

[Reader]

CBC has a total of 600+ transmitters for CBC and Radio-Canada. There is no double counting there.

[roger1818]

^^^That is my point. The article is talking about the number of towers not transmitters. More than one transmitter can be on a single tower.

[stampeder]

I've got to wonder if/whether other TV networks, stations, or other tower-based services are interested in acquiring any of them.

[Doppelganger399]

I found this out last night my home town is effected CBNT-3 CH 5, I assumed we would be getting a digital transmitter once analog shut down & am a little saddened by this.

As a cable subscriber I have 4 or 5 cbc feeds but I know people who still get their cbc over the air & they have no idea this is coming this will leave the community with 1 over station NTV in analog.

[MonopolyBuster]

CBC Hamilton launched today as mobile accessible only, no OTA, as part of CBC commitment to increase regional news coverage.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toront...7.html?cmp=rss

That's part of the future plans to 2015 with commitment to increase Canadian content and deliver more services by mobile and internet delivered content.

http://cbc-radiocanada.ca/strategy20...5_2pager_e.pdf

[El Gran Chico]

Roger, those quotes you included tell me that once this is done, it's done and irreversable. Once the land is sold and the towers taken down, it will be cost prohibitive to re-launch OTA in these areas no matter who is in charge/funding levels down the road.

[roger1818]

The thing that bothers me about the sale of the 87 towers is that unlike TVO, who is willing to give their towers to the communities, it seems like the CBC is wanting to raise money from the sale and will insist on top dollar, possibly pricing the communities out of the running.

As for who might buy them, it all depends on where they are located (which the CBC hasn't disclosed yet). I suspect though that most, if not all, are in very small communities and are likely not of interest to any broadcaster. Wireless voice and data providers may be interested however. If not (or they get a better offer from someone else) the land could be sold for other purposes and the tower dismantled. If no one is interested, I guess the land would be transferred to the government and become crown land. Who knows what the government would do with the tower.

[CACTUS62]

The Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) is working with the CBC, the CRTC, Heritage, and Industry Canada to work out and streamline processes so that communities slated to lose free CBC OTA on July 31st (more than 600) as well as free TVO (more than 100) can continue to maintain CBC and TVO analog equipment in non-mandatory markets and/or considering doing the upgrade to digital themselves in both mandatory and non-mandatory markets.

As an organization that promotes access to community media, our long-term goal is to encourage as many communities as possible to explore the potential of digital transmitters not only to keep free OTA services like the CBC/Radio-Canada, and TVO, but also to add community TV or radio, multiplex wireless Internet, or use towers that might otherwise be decommissioned for cellular service in underserved areas.

We'll be contacting as many of the affected communities as possible before the July 31st shutoff date.

It's interesting to hear about Fort St. James, BC. Valemount in BC, Chetwynd, Dawson Creek, Ashcroft, and Cache Creek also offer OTA rebroadcasting already. There are a cluster of community-owned cable co-operatives also in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Cathy Edwards
cactus.independentmedia.ca

[stampeder]

Welcome here and thanks for joining us, Cathy, and a welcome to all CACTUS members too.

Your organization's website is chock full of terrific info for those OTAers in areas about to lose their CBC and/or TVO signals on how to possibly keep those TV signals up and running. Please keep us up to date on CACTUS and I'm positive there are members here who will be eager to learn about the efforts of your organization.

We are quite proud of the vast amount of Canadian OTA knowledge we've accumulated here over the past 7 years and I'm sure that it will be of benefit to those who are working to keep OTA alive and well across our country.

[cxgy]

Here is a list of all 625 transmitters to be shutdown...

http://dxinfocentre.com/etc/CBC_SRC_shutdown.html

[danjorgensen]

WHAT!!

If they shutdown all of the CBC and SRC Analog Over the Air Services over all canada. Could they do it to Analog Over the Air CTV, CTV2, Global or City TV.

That CBC, So Cheap!! CBC should not be all canadian, buy programs right for over the air US Networks TV Shows or became more like PBS Canada.