CBC HD Feeds

[DrSat]

Seems like the old DVB-S trellis CBC feeds on this same satellite are being switched over to DVB-S2 but remain encrypted.

3920 H 28800 DVB-S has now been changed to 3920 H 30000 DVB-S2 8PSK and contains the following channels:

REGINA
QUEBEC
WINNIPEG
EDMONTON
VANCOUVER

And a new mux is now on 4080 H 30000 DVB-S2 8PSK with the following channels:

WINDSOR2
REGINA
CALGARY
YELLOWKNIFE
OCCASIONAL

All of these are encrypted with PowerVu encryption. However, the other previously reported HD muxes remain unencrypted as of right now.


Regards,

Dr. Sat

[DrSat]

Another encrypted CBC MUX just popped up at:

3840 H 30000
DVB-S2 8psk
3/4 FEC
Pilot Off

St. Johns
Charlottetown
Fredericton
Montreal
Ottawa


Regards,

Dr. Sat

[Marc]

English services were encrypted just before 2pm eastern time today.
You will find short term exceptions, but as mentioned months ago, this will be the norm.

[PrinceLH]

It's really stupid to do that. What have they got to lose by leaving them in the clear? If Shaw Direct is going to leave them open, because of the loss of over the air transmitters, what do they lose? It seems very short sighted because the vast majority of C Band users are in smaller communities or in the country. Most urban area's have no room for BUD dishes.

[Marc]

Post 43.

Originally Posted by PrinceLH

If Shaw Direct is going to leave them open, because of the loss of over the air transmitters, what do they lose?

The other satellite company used to do that.
They don't anymore.

[PrinceLH]

I see the CTV Mux is gone tonight too! That really sucks!

[roger1818]

This has been discussed before, but it is the content providers that require CBC encrypt the signal. The only way they could stay unencrypted would be to only show programmes that the CBC has world wide distribution rights to (or at least North American distribution rights). That would mean dropping most privately produced programming as well as HNIC.

[alebowgm]

Or negotiating deals that don't have that clause in it :-)

[DrSat]

We at Dr. Sat are deeply disappointed about the CBC encrypting all of their signals. With Shaw Direct's LTSS program now gone since November, many tax paying Canadians living outside OTA range now have no choice but to pay for a monthly cable or satellite subscription in order to receive the CBC even though they already get funding from their tax dollars.

We sold many 107W fixed C-band systems for people who were abandoned in the digital transition just so that they could continue receiving a service partially funded by their tax dollars. We were advised by a fair amount of these people that they had already tried to sign up for the LTSS program but did not qualify so C-band was their only other option. You have to realize that many Canadian citizens are on fixed or retirement income so they can't afford to pay for a monthly cable or satellite subscription, even for the smallest package offering the CBC.

With the NHL season currently on strike, there was NO reason to do this other than pure greed or possibly from pressure by the BDU's. Do you honestly think that imported shows such as Coronation Street actually forced the CBC to encrypt their signal?!? Hopefully the senior executives at the CBC receive a big fat bonus cheque this year due to the savings and proceeds associated in dismantling their nationwide OTA network. When the NHL resumes, the announcers better not say "Coast to Coast" anymore as this is no longer the case.


Dr. Sat

[alebowgm]

Um, the CRTC granted Shaw's request to extend LTSS for another 12 months. So they do have a free option, as it expires Nov, 2013! Now if they don't qualify or not, that is another discussion...

See: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=143941

As for people purchasing units to specifically get CBC, it was long said that they would be encrypted.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by alebowgm

As for people purchasing units to specifically get CBC, it was long said that they would be encrypted.

Agreed. I take DrSat's complaints with a grain of salt. For months he ignored posts saying that the CBC feeds will be encrypted so that he could market receiving the CBC feeds as a way of selling satellite systems. Hardly an honorable business practice worthy of such a high and mighty attitude.

If I were one of his customers, I would ask for a refund as he knowingly deceived them.

[PrinceLH]

I don't buy the need to encrypt due to the North American rights argument. If that were the case, then all of the American feeds, like NBC, etc, would also be encrypted, on C Band. It's just an attempt to squeeze money out of a hand full of consumers, for substandard local programming. Here in eastern Ontario, we can get CBC and CTV over the air, but they have not converted to High Definition, so we get subpar service. Using C Band, was one way of getting around this problem. Now with the CBC and CTV Mux being encrypted, we're stuck with the subpar picture quality, on our HD sets.

[PrinceLH]

Maybe Dr. Sat could give us an address to where we could complain about this policy. I'd certainly sign on to a petition, to be presented in Parliament, in regards to forcing the CBC to unencrypt, if they receive taxpayers dollars.

[micah]

I wonder if complaints to the CRTC would be considered...

[alebowgm]

With the new administration who knows... perhaps...