CBC TV Windsor Also To Be A Goner?

[RingtailedFox]

Well, we do have the competition from the Detroit locals... the toledo locals are about to be gone, and the cleveland locals haven't been carried in leamington since 2000.... CBET-TV used to be carried in chatham and sarnia, and even as far south as Findlay, Ohio on Time Warner cable, but now it's just relegated to metro detroit, monroe, toledo, and sandusky, ohio... perhaps having TWC dropping CBET-TV from Findlay was CBC's way of sounding alarm bells to us about the imminent closure of channel 9?

as for population.... we should EASILY be able to support CBC, SRC, TVO, and A while peeing on a wall... even WITH the detroit signals to contend with... i guess the economy just sucks that hard here, that no one can afford anything. oh well. i'll shut the lights off, since i'll be the last guy stuck in windsor :P

[rob50312]

CBC is not going to shut down OTA in Windsor.They may shut down the local news.This is just posturing to get more money or delay the requirement to go digital.

[RobWindsor]

In Windsor, Channel 54 and 32 (SRC and TVO) are just transmitters, they have no stake in the Windsor region, they just rebroadcast a distant signal. Channel 54 used to have local programming, but that is long gone now. So channel 9 will be the only local channel here. From what I've just read, looks like CKCO will stop producing a seperate newscast with segments inserted for Sarnia/Windsor on channel 42. And I'll bet CFPL might start airing a couple segments for Windsor in its first few months of being "A - SouthWestern Ontario", but that'll be gone before you know it. If CBC Windsor were to close now, there would truly be no one in Canada covering the events in this city anymore.

[cptcarter]

Living in the Windsor area, I was very upset to hear about A Channel Windsor's fate come August. The Canadian media scene is a tough one. Do you spend millions of dollars to produce your own shows and hope people and advertisers support it (Flashpoint is a perfect example) or do you just take the easy way out as most private networks in Canada do ie. Global and CTV and buy syndicated American programming and re-air it with your logo at the bottom? I think the CRTC needs to ensure local Canadian programming stays at the forefront and that money is put in to quality Canadian programming. I love the CBC (if they try and take CBC Windsor down, I will definately be out there supporting them.) The CBC provides Canadians with great local news and airs great Canadian shows, ie. Dragons Den, Hockey Night in Canada and The Border just to name a few. I'm so sick and tired of hearing so many Canadians bitch and complain about Canadian programming. There is a lot of good stuff out there, we just have to support it. I would take Flashpoint any day over NCIS or CSI. I really, really hope the CBC in Windsor stays, because if we loose that, what source will we tune to for local news? Detroit stations? Although they include Windsor in their weather, they don't do any stories from Windsor unless it affects Detroit or Michigan.

[nakedgord]

Originally Posted by cptcarter

I really, really hope the CBC in Windsor stays, because if we loose that, what source will we tune to for local news? Detroit stations? Although they include Windsor in their weather, they don't do any stories from Windsor unless it affects Detroit or Michigan.

Sooner or later some crackerjack station manager at a border city station will realize that there's money to be made right across the border and with all these extra sub channels s/he'll have there'll be to real estate on their schedules to do it.

"Canadian TV" brought to use by Americans. It's such a crazy idea I could so see it happening.

[Walter Dnes]

Originally Posted by nakedgord

Sooner or later some crackerjack station manager at a border city station will realize that there's money to be made right across the border and with all these extra sub channels s/he'll have there'll be to real estate on their schedules to do it.

Great minds think alike. In the wee hours of this morning, I fired off a note to the CRTC suggesting that in smaller markets, Canadian networks share one channel on one digital transmitter, running 6 SDTV channels. Splitting the cost amongst 4 or 5 partners would make it affordable. A hypothetical example in small-town Ontario would see the following sub-channels...

1. CBC English
2. CBC French
3. CTV
4. A Channel
5. Global
6. TVO

A serendipitous side-effect would be that one high-gain, narrow-band antenna could pick up all the channels without requiring rotors. Yeah, SDTV sucks once you've gotten used to HDTV, but in smaller towns, it'll be a choice between 6 channels of SDTV, or no channels of anything.

Originally Posted by nakedgord

"Canadian TV" brought to use by Americans. It's such a crazy idea I could so see it happening.

And I think my idea is the only alternative.

[RingtailedFox]

That's almost identical to what i suggested... I said to merge the two CBC networks into one, with CBC English as DT.1 and CBC French as DT.2, with the positions of those two chanels flipped in Quebec (CBC French as DT.1 and English as DT.2...). The cost savings of operating just one transmitter/station would be enormous and could possibly allow the CBC as a whole to *gasp* pull a profit! At the very least, under-served areas of the nation would finally get full coverage of both CBC networks...

[GeorgeMx]

The Windsor Star seems to be engaging in speculation about the fate of the CBC stations. The reasons for the private broadcasters dropping stations in Windsor are linked to their inability to air U.S. programs into the market due to contractual prohibitions that protect Detroit broadcasters. The Americans are not going to let Canadian broadcasters put current U.S. network programming into the Detroit market and scoop commercial revenue. The U.S. broadcasters aggressively protect their program exclusivity rights on cable, satellite and OTA.

The CBC, SRC and TVO are likely to remain in Windsor to provide a Canadian broadcast presence. I don't see the federal government allowing CBC to shut down transmitters serving Windsor. A community the size of Windsor should have some local TV news presence so I think it is possible that the federal government or CRTC would direct CBC to provide local news if the private broadcasters leave the city.

The situation for CKNX is quite different. The part of the area served by CKNX gets A Channel from London or Barrie. The area served exclusively by CKNX is largely rural with a relatively small population. Considering the 85% penetration of cable and satellite service, the number of households getting A Channel from CKNX OTA is relatively small. CKNX is not the only station available in the area. CKCO (CTV) comes in on channel 13 (Kitchener), channel 2 (Wiarton) and possibly from the Oil Springs (Sarnia) transmitter. There is also CBC and TVO service, and a CHCH repeater from the Owen Sound area.

The CKNX story gets down to basic economics - how much capital and operating expense is a private broadcaster prepared to shoulder to reach a few thousand households OTA? A Channel is available throughout the area on satellite so why spend dollars on OTA? You can even argue that pumping out kilowatts of power to reach a small number of households is not environmentally sound!

Television broadcasting as we know it is a 60 year old economic model dating from the days when TV sets were B&W beasts filled with vacuum tubes. People were still riding trains pulled by steam engines and passenger planes all had propellers. Things have changed and broadcasters have to adapt. OTA transmitters in areas of low population density just don't make sense anymore.

[Walter Dnes]

Originally Posted by RobWindsor

I do not subscribe to cable or satellite, but with the loss of all the local stations in Windsor being a possibility, well... I guess they've finally won, I'll shell out my $30/ month just so I can watch the damn CBC! Welcome to Canada.

Fear not, for there is a free solution. Since you're posting to this forum, you obviously have access to the internet, including the CBC news webpage http://www.cbc.ca/news/

I remember being a kid growing up in the early 1960's, when TV news was worth watching. Turn on the TV, and you'd see 25 minutes of national/world news between 6:00 PM and 6:30 PM, ditto for local news between 6:30 PM and 7:00 PM. Nowadays, it's mostly a combination of commercial breaks and inane banter between the co-anchors and the sports guy and the weather girl. Oh yeah, they squeeze in a few minutes of news, along the way.

In 15 minutes of reading their website, I get a lot more information than in the entire 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM newshour. And I can get it when I want it, not when the TV schedule wants it.

[GeorgeMx]

Originally Posted by GeorgeMx

CKCO (CTV) comes in on channel 13 (Kitchener), channel 2 (Wiarton) and possibly from the Oil Springs (Sarnia) transmitter. There is also CBC and TVO service, and a CHCH repeater from the Owen Sound area.

CTV has not requested renewal of the channel 2 Wiarton transmitter.

[RingtailedFox]

thank you, CRTC... your extreme protection of cable companies has now caused many highly-populated and rural areas of the country to lose all over-the-air television service. bravo! let's just hope they never experience severe weather...

[randomusername2]

What a terrible article! Eye catching headline follows with article saying CBC at corporate level has lower revenue then author speculates CBC will shutdown in Windsor. There's no direct link between the speech by the CBC CEO and the headline just some writer trying to fill page space.

According to the original poster this is a page one article and not some columnist's story that is buried in the entertainment section. If it was presented as as the musing of someone writing about the local media that would be fine but passing it off as page one news is a joke and another example of Canwest stirring up sentiment against the CBC.

With "news" like this it's no wonder Canwest is in trouble.

[Lindsay649]

Good discusion but really that is all it is. The reality is that
Canadians watch American televison and Windsor is no differant than any other part of Canada. The only alternative to American programing is the CBC. Even the CBC is thinking about less "Canadian" programing and having more American programing. Should be some left over once A Channel and Global bite the dust.

[FootandMouth]

The CKNX story gets down to basic economics - how much capital and operating expense is a private broadcaster prepared to shoulder to reach a few thousand households OTA? A Channel is available throughout the area on satellite so why spend dollars on OTA? You can even argue that pumping out kilowatts of power to reach a small number of households is not environmentally sound!

That is the basis of the argument that Canwest, CTV and CBC have over fee for carriage. Although an unpopular concept on these forums, it will be absolutely critical for maintaining local programming in smaller communities like Windsor. What I don't understand about the issue is why people don't complain about Rogers or Shaw just tacking on the fee, why should companies who have basically been given a monopoly by the CRTC allowed to just charge more?. They are making huge profits even while the people who supply the content that drives people to their services are on the edge of withdrawing news and programming from smaller communities. ,....I really don't understand why we allow the CRTC and cable providers to get away with this. Windsor won't be the only place to suffer because cable companies won't take there share.

[classicsat]

Originally Posted by GeorgeMx

CHCH repeater from the Owen Sound area.

CHCH? Since when? You may mean CKCO. If you mean CHCH, what channel?

AFAIK there is only CKCO, there the longest, since before the 1980s), CICA (TVO) went on in 1982 or 1983, CIII (on in mid-late 80s, I saw them testing after they turned it on), and CBC, which I never seen but know is there, probably went online for the CBC-Blackburn split.

I did see the Ambleside CBC transmitter testing though, Ambleside is a crossroads somehow worth a name, about 10mi north of Wingham, maybe 5 mi South of CKNX transmitter site. I often see the CBC and CKNX transmitter sites when I pass them, as they are practically in my back yard.