Bitove's HDTV OTA Network Denied

[hugh]

Press release issued this morning

HDTV Networks Inc. confirmed today that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has denied its application for a broadcasting licence to launch Canada's first free national over-the-air high-definition (HD) network based out of Vancouver, British Columbia.

HDTV Networks Inc. thanks the CRTC for reviewing and considering its
application.

for background see the CRTC Reviewing Proposed HD OTA Network for Canada discussion thread

[99gecko]

OTTAWA-GATINEAU — The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) today denied HDTV Networks Inc.'s (HDTV Networks) application for a licence to operate a national, English-language high-definition conventional television service.

“HDTV Networks sought to launch a television station that would be the Canadian equivalent of a superstation,” said Michel Arpin, the CRTC's Vice-Chairman of Broadcasting. “The programming strategy associated with such a station is inconsistent with the objectives of the Broadcasting Act and the Commission's policies. We have never granted a licence for such a conventional television station in the past and did not find any compelling reason to do so at this time.”

The requirement to make local programming available to audiences is an integral feature of the CRTC's conventional television policy. HDTV Networks would only commit to providing two hours of local programming per week in each of the eight markets it wanted to serve: Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax. By way of comparison, existing conventional stations offer on average more than 22 hours of local programming per week.

The Commission also found that HDTV Networks' proposal was inconsistent with its policies governing the distribution of digital television signals. The applicant requested that cable and satellite companies distribute its television signal in both analog and digital formats. Such an arrangement would not further the Commission's objective to support the transition from analog to digital broadcasting and distribution.

In addition, the CRTC today denied YES TV Inc.'s application for a licence to operate an English-language high-definition conventional television service in the Greater Toronto Area. The Commission was not convinced that the applicant could fulfill its programming commitments, among other things.

Today's decisions follow a public process that included a public hearing, which was held on February 12 and 13, 2008.

http://crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisi.../db2008-75.htm

[Jake]

CBC Article on decision.
http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2008/04/03/hdtv-crtc.html

[blakew]

Weak! The CRTC decsion is laughable, and oh so predictible. Proof that Shaw, Bell, Rogers, Telus and other Canadian telecommunication co's/BDU's have a louder voice than the Canadian public.

Denying HD Networks' applications because it would be deemed too much like a superstation? Hello, the very companies happy with this decision are the ones providing American superstations to millions of Canadian's television sets. The existance of a free to view superstation (in digital no less) would hurt business. Oh, and just incase you forgot, you pay GST on your BDU subscriptions, so don't think the goverment is your friend when it comes to getting free HD over-the-air. The feds wouldn't make a dime from viewers watching Bitove's OTA networks. And with heavy hitters in the other corner, are you really surprised with today's result?

[scrooloose]

Frankly I'm not disappointed. There just isn't enough HD content for another network.

-Mike

[kingsford90]

"By way of comparison, existing conventional stations offer on average more than 22 hours of local programming per week."

I assume this just means local news. Fill an hour at 6 with 5 minutes of news and everybody is happy.

Albeit not a great day for more choice for the consumer, I doubt it would have ever happened anyway even if Bitove got the license. How could it possibly have made any money?

[SensualPoet]

The press release from the Bitove folks sounded almost relieved. I'm more interested in seeing HD on existing Canadian channels than on a new series of OTA HD. Hello, CTV? Nightly News? CFTO News?

[foxfan]

So many existing Canadian stations have out-of-core DTV allocations. Priority should be given to complete the transition and move them in-core before thinking of opening new stations.

Remember, the DTV transition is all about spectrum, not perdy pictures in HD.

[hugh]

The press release from the Bitove folks sounded almost relieved.

I think they realized they didn't have a chance in he double hockey sticks so they didn't want to alienate the CRTC with a negative announcement.

[bigoranget]

Frankly I'm glad this license got denied. It would have set precedent to allow current stations to reduce their local programming to nothing. With all of the consolidation that has gone on over the years, this is the last thing Canadian Television needs.

[roger1818]

I have mixed feelings about this. It would have been nice to have another station available, but I was concerned about the lack of local programming. Approval of this application would likely have given the existing stations permission to reduce if not eliminate the minimal amount of local programming they provide even further.

[scampbell]

>>>"By way of comparison, existing conventional stations offer on average more than 22 hours of local programming per week."<<<

I wonder how the 2 hours of local programming promised by the new network compares to the number of hours of local HD programming offered by conventional stations.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by scampbell

I wonder how the 2 hours of local programming promised by the new network compares to the number of hours of local HD programming offered by conventional stations.

Not all of the programming was promised to be in HD (the application said they were going to up-convert programs that weren't available in HD). Likely the local programming would be in upconverted SD.