Canada's OTA Broadcasters Not Touting DTV!

[downbeat]

When Rogers turned on CKAL-DT in Calgary, they made nary a peep about it. Only through this forum would you have known that you could get Citytv Calgary in HD by using an antenna. Now that their HD signal is available on cable, they're including that information in the news crawl on Breakfast Television.
What a joke.
Hope they've done/will do a better job advertising the digital transition on their other properties.

[tvlurker]

Good Luck. No promotion here in Ottawa. Not even the Quebecor-owned Sun and 24 hours newspapers mention that you can get SunTV over the air. (They do list SunTV first on the listing grid, but this only occurred AFTER Rogers was forced to put SunTV on analog basic in Ottawa)

The CBC, for example, makes no mention on the website about how to get CBC HD any way other than via BDU.

No promotion of CITY-DT, or the OMNIs here in Ottawa either.

[Jase88]

Yep, you're hard pressed to find details regarding OTA from any conventional broadcaster's website in Canada (possible exception for TVO).

During one of the first power outages of the year at the CN tower, I called City TV to report their signal was off the air. The first couple of staff I spoke to at the station didn't even realize they broadcast a signal over-the-air! Difficult to get details of OTA on a website if your staff aren't even aware!

And the federal government expects broadcasters to educate viewers on the upcoming DTV transition. LOL

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by Jase88

Yep, you're hard pressed to find details regarding OTA from any conventional broadcaster's website in Canada (possible exception for TVO).

Many stations have it burred in an FAQ on their website and often the info is out of date. It certainly isn't obvious if you aren't looking for it.

[stampeder]

I agree with all of you that it is bizarre how Canada's OTA broadcasters don't utter a peep about their DTV signals. It is beyond understanding.

On a related note, check out the viewership numbers of the main cable, satellite, and OTA forums here at Digital Home (Canada's leading web site for consumer electronics) as seen at 8AM (Pacific) this morning:

SO, if broadcasters tell you that nobody watches OTA or that there is no interest, send them the link to this post so that they can see for themselves and wise up!

Also check out the following thread and let us know in there when you see positive or negative OTA coverage in the media:

Popularizing OTA DTV In Canada

[wilspin]

The reason broadcaster are quiet about OTA seems clear to me. The owners of private broadcasters are mainly corps that offer cellular and internet services. They would love to retire OTA altogether and free up all the spectrum so they can sell it back to us with more broadband services. It’s up to us to spread the word!

[Jase88]

The good news is that Shaw, with it's recent purchase of Global TV's assets, has been very vocal about their intent to support the DTV upgrade for their stations--even in small markets.

[rob50312]

Why wont they mention free OTA when the same company owns a cable or sat. service and would like you to pay them for that free OTA signal.Talk about conflict of interest ,nice job CRTC.

[frontpl8]

I guess then its no wonder most people don't even know you can pick up digital tv this way. In fact I had to point out to a guy at work the other day that you can still get free tv OTA. He thought that it was dead here in Calgary, and that you had to get service from cable or satellite. Boy was he surprised to find out that HD is free OTA, and you don't need no HD cable box to get it. I cant figure out why the CRTC isn't forcing broadcasters to advertise this to the people.

[ota_canuck]

Are Canadian broadcasters even obligated to educate Canadian viewers regarding the August 2011 analog shutdown? When would it start and will they even mention that antenna DTV is an option, or will they just state that cable/sat viewers won't be affected?

Right now Shaw and Cogeco make their current and potential customers believe that antenna won't work after the shutdown and the CRTC in an email reply to me about Cogeco's misleading ad campaign says they won't get involved with third party policy. The CRTC referred my email to Cogeco and Cogeco will only respond if I have an account with them.

So, the point that I'm getting to is the CRTC is willing to keep a 'blind eye' on the policy of BDU's regarding what they tell the Canadian public, so I'd doubt the broadcasters will even hint at free OTA DTV in there transition announcements in fear of losing BDU carriage. And most of Canadian broadcasters will be controlled by BDUs by that time anyway.

[wilspin]

I set up this guy with an antenna last April and his boss told him what I had done was illegal. His boss did not believe me that TV started this way 50 years ago! This shows how brainwashed people have become about TV services.

[Jase88]

I don't believe broadcasters are obligated to educate viewers. It's not a condition of their broadcast license. The CRTC simply indicated that it won't be funding a public education campaign like we saw in the US. And that it expects the broadcasters to fund and take on this responsibility themselves.

Likely, nothing will happen in terms of an education campaign. And, when August 31, 2011 hits, any questions regarding DTV to the government will be referred to the local stations.

Basically, the federal government wants to pocket every penny they'll earn auctioning the 700MHz spectrum. Likely in the billions.

[ota_canuck]

Found this, but it's not specific and it sounds more like a suggestion, rather than a ruling.

Consumer awareness and education is a key component of the digital transition. Members of the broadcasting industry are expected to actively participate in the creation and implementation of a national consumer education program. Such a program should start no later than March 2011 to ensure Canadians are well informed.
http://news.gc.ca/web/article-eng.do...dex&nid=548009

I'm sure the BDUs will get away with using the transition as a marketing event for new customers.

This is the kind of message I expect the broadcasters to air in March:

'The Canadian broadcasters transition to digital is August 2011, There will be no more free analog TV, so take down your antenna and call your local cable company.'

Of course I expect they will fail to mention that you can get digital over the air!
_______________________________
Note:

Oh yes! and stores like CTC will continue to sell non-digital sets and tell customers that cable is required because analog is going to be gone soon. I don't blame the sales staff on the floor, but I do blame our government for not forcing the public education program upon the broadcasters and forcing the Canadian electronics distributors to stop dumping non HDTV-atsc equipment into the laps of the unknowing Canadian consumer.

[PlayitSimple]

I don't understand why people are so shocked that none of the broadcasters care much about OTA?! All the major broadcasters are owned (or about to be owned in CTV's case) by BDU's. If they start telling people you can get all these channel FREE over the air then they may end up losing customers (although I suspect not many). They want everyone to sign up for their services, be it cable or satellite so they can make a fortune off us. If I remember correctly, I read that the average cable bill nowadays is around $100, multiply that by millions of subscribers and that is a good chunk of change. Also, the switch to digital is going to be costly so I am sure they would much rather no one watches TV OTA so they don't have to pay for the upgrades that are necessary.

The CRTC isn't doing much either because they are controlled by big business so they do just as much as is required under the regulations that govern them. I also think that they are not giving accurate figures as far as OTA users is concerned. With the switch to digital and downturn in the economy, I would wager that there are more people that watch TV OTA then we are being led to believe.

I set up this guy with an antenna last April and his boss told him what I had done was illegal. His boss did not believe me that TV started this way 50 years ago! This shows how brainwashed people have become about TV services.

That is hilarious, how can putting up an antenna to pick up an unencrypted signal be illegal?! Unfortunately it appears the Rogers of the world have done a great job brainwashing people into thinking that the only way to watch TV is through them. I think OTA will slowly fade away as I don't see many younger folk embracing it. Its a shame really because in other parts of the world OTA TV is still going strong.

[El Gran Chico]

you're hard pressed to find details regarding OTA from any conventional broadcaster's website in Canada (possible exception for TVO)

What's on TVO's site can probably be attributed to members of this forum who keep remindingthem they are the ONLY one not up in digital in Toronto. The first time I contacted them about ATSC (2007 perhaps?!), I'm pretty sure they had no idea what I was talking about. I had a conversation with a VP there a few weeks ago (synopsis posted in the TVO thread) and they still think OTA usage is that "10%" bogus figure. I quickly pointed out a 2006 CRTC study (taken before many of Toronto's digital channels were up) that pegged TVOs OTA viewership at 25%! (I'll go out on a limb and suggest a lot of BDU subscribers are signing up to watch channels that AREN'T TVO).

It’s up to us to spread the word!

Yup, that should be the first line of the "OTAers creed".

'The Canadian broadcasters transition to digital is August 2011, There will be no more free analog TV, so take down your antenna and call your local cable company.'

I'm sure something like exactly that will be said. Unfortunately that's the way many corporations think today - say something that's technically true that are in reality totally misleading.

I think OTA will slowly fade away as I don't see many younger folk embracing it.

Don't be so sure of that. They are used to getting stuff for free. There's also a culture within engineering and computer science students who know all about this and show their friends how good any easy this can be to get local channels.