CRTC requires Bell TV and Shaw Direct to carry more local television

[Krydor]

That mandate could have been avoided entirely if ATSC tuners were mandatory in Satellite STB's. Put up two HD omnibus channels and eliminate all the locals.

That being said, I have no problem at all with multiple HD network feeds from coast to coast.

[Kartan]

One issue that I see is (at least according to the article on this site) adding these channels will cause an increase to subscribers. This to me says that they'll most likely up the rates of their base packages, which will make competing with local cable co's difficult for both companies. And as much as I know everyone's going to say "well they shouldn't raise rates because they're making huge profits blah blah blah...." you know that it will happen.

[gdmaclew]

It will be something to lose sleep over if I'm forced to buy a replacement satellite receiver. And chances are the new receiver won't be able to interface with my EHD (External Hard Drive) so I'll lose all my movies.
And chances are it won't have an ASTC tuner in it like my 6141 does.
Damn CRTC!
I hope this gets overturned.

[ammo]

Well it will definately be the last nail in the coffin for satellite for me...satellite service is a joke in canada...the crtc..looking out for business not the people...dont need to see 30 cbc channels all showing the same shyte...oh yeah dont forget the 40 ctv....never mind the bafoons at bell....I could go on and on....

[Francois Caron]

Originally Posted by hugh

CRTC says Bell will have to add 43 stations and Shaw will have 80 in total (not sure how many they have now)

Ack! That's a lot of channels on a limited capacity delivery system!

And is this standard def. or high def.? Or both?

[bigoranget]

Again folks, this is a mandate to add small market locals in SD only. In MPEG-4/8PSK format, you could probably fit all of these additions on 2-3 transponders easily.

I don't know what Shaw's upgrade options are but I'm pretty sure Bell customers will be upgraded for free. The tangible benefits package included a large amount of money to help customers upgrade to MPEG-4.

[Dr.Dave]

In Bell's case, this was all finalized almost 2 months ago as part of the CRTC's approval of the CTV purchase as others have said. Here are some quotes from the CRTC decision that I also referred to in the Bell Satellite forum.

35. As part of its 7 February 2011 tangible benefits package, BCE proposed to provide satellite carriage for an additional 43 local television services. This initiative would be made possible by replacing all of BCE’s installed high definition (HD) MPEG-2 set-top boxes with MPEG-4 capable boxes within a 12-15 month timeframe. BCE submitted that this would free sufficient capacity to allow for increased carriage of local over-the-air (OTA) stations.

Consequently, the Commission accepts BCE’s proposal to allocate $60 million of its total benefits package toward this initiative and directs BCE’s DTH service to carry at least 43 additional television services that meet the following criteria in standard definition by 31 August 2012 and to make these services available as part of the basic package in the appropriate local markets:

[j0dest3r]

So what you are saying then Dr. Dave is it's a done deal.

[bigoranget]

So what you are saying then Dr. Dave is it's a done deal.

Yes, this is a done deal.

I don't think anyone should buy into the hysteria that rates will double over this change. People will continue to see the 2-3 price increase annually. These increases would have happened regardless whether or not they had to make room for these locals. The only difference now is the likes of Bell and Shaw Direct can make an excuse for the next few round of increases.

[jbracing24]

and to make these services available as part of the basic package in the appropriate local markets:

"appropriate local markets" doesn't mean everyone will get all 43 "locals"...only the ones applicable to the subscriber...correct?

[ScaryBob]

Bell TV was already planning on adding most of these channels. This directive was aimed squarely at Shaw Direct. Shaw has been slow to add Canadian HD channels, resulting in lost simsub revenue for Canadian broadcasters. Much of that has been due to lack of capacity but at least Shaw customers haven't had to endure the disruptions that Bell's bad simsubs and defective compression schemes caused over the past 3 years.

[hugh]

In MPEG-4/8PSK format, you could probably fit all of these additions on 2-3 transponders easily.

2 or 3 transponders that could be used for channels customers want and/or for: better quality signals, more services, more 1080p and so on.

Let the market decide, not the government.

I don't know what Shaw's upgrade options are but I'm pretty sure Bell customers will be upgraded for free.

Really? Those receivers costs hundreds of dollars each. Nothing is free in this world. Those millions in "free" receivers will be paid for by Bell customers. It appears Shaw customers will have to buy those receivers themselves.

[Dr.Dave]

Originally Posted by jbracing24

"appropriate local markets" doesn't mean everyone will get all 43 "locals"...only the ones applicable to the subscriber...correct?

The whole point was to make sure that satellite viewers could see their local channels, just like cable subs. Technically, Bell could just make them available to a specific market, but there wouldn't be any advantage to do that. What they may do is carry the eastern small market locals on the eastern satellite and likewise with the western ones. In the future they could use spot beams for locals and still comply with the CRTC rules.

[classicsat]

Originally Posted by glparker4

What is stopping the satellite providers from using spot-beam technology?

Really just that they would have launch order and launch spot-beam satellite(s), and build extra uplink sites. I don't think there is any regulatory restrictions to using spot beams.

I don't understand the CRTC logic in forcing the providers to offer local stations to a national audience. These channels provide little value outside their local markets in age of the PVR.

Nothing I read indicated the stations in question have to be national, just they be carried.

[primehifi]

It's old news. Bell hasn't been adding mpeg4 because they only wanted to add HD channels. They've known for a number of years now that they needed mpeg4 to add those locals CRTC told them to carry during a hearing 1-2 years ago.

When mpeg4 comes it will open them up to adding new programming quite a bit. Until then this thread should just be locked lol