I want to express my opposition towards the proposed removal from service of various CTV & CTV2 rebroadcast transmitters, including CKNY-TV North Bay (CTV Northern Ontario) and CITO-TV Timmins (CTV Northern Ontario). I personnally utilize over the air television as an affordable means to access local / regional information, entertainment and Canadian content. For a one time investment of 25$ (used for the purchase of an analog/digital television antenna), I have a simple yet reliable & portable device which allows me to stay informed about my community, as well as keep track of what's happening across Ontario, in Canada and around the planet.
I have concerns regarding the affordability of monthly pay television subscriptions or streaming online. I have a modest salary, and as it stands right now, I am able to access free of charge CTV's signal in my area. I do not believe it is fair that, in the future, I should have to pay twice in order to access content that was once provided to me free of charge. I already have to pay twice in order to access CBC's & Radio-Canada's progamming (once by paying for each public broadcaster's operation through my taxes, and a second time with the bandwidth that I now have to pay monthly in order to access their websites). Their platforms, from my experience, are constantly buffering and often time out. The resolution of their live feeds online is often of worse quality than the over the air signals I do receive in my region. I was once able to access TVO & TFO's live programming without a subscription to a paid television service. However, despite paying my share of taxes to fund the operation of both these stations, this is no longer an option provided to me in my area. Furthermore, neither channel streams their feeds online, and I am now shutout from accessing Franco-Ontarian programming offered by TFO.
I have serious reservations that should these private towers & transmitters be removed from service, that I will now no longer be able to reliably or affordably access CTV's content in my area. Large Canadian Cities have arguably the best, fastest & most reliable internet connections in this country. Yet, instead of requiring the people who reside in these communities to stream content over the Internet and subsequently remove their over the air broadcast transmitters, both private & public broadcasters in places like Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal, Vancouver, etc. have not only maintained, but increased the quality of their over the air signals to High Definition, or in some cases, plan to upgrade them to 4K. To date, there are communities in Northern Ontario who do not have access to high speed internet services. The infrastructure simply doesn't exist.
The solutions being proposed aren't equitable for people with limited financial means. I strongly recommend that the CRTC continue to require the maintenance and operation of these existing towers & transmitters in communities such as my own.