[reidw]

And that's exactly the problem. Practically every single specialty channel in the US from Investigation Discovery to Lifetime:Real Women to SoapNet to Cartoon Network are in HD. Up here, we have to whine and wait to get them. It's sad, this day and age there's no excuse for anything not to be in HD.

fry1989, we are a much smaller country than the US. You can't expect everything American to reach us right away particularly where money is involved.

Also: If you been reading another thread at DHC, one of Bell's installers has provided some interesting numbers on how many HD installs he does compared to SD installs. SD still leads by a country mile. HD has simply not yet penetrated as far in Canada as in the United States so it is at least understandable why our specialty stations have been slow to switch to HD.

And also: Interest in HD in Canada is also not as high as in the US. This fact is obscured by sites such as DHC where everyone is totally enthused with HD. That's to be expected but in the general public there are still many who don't see either the need nor amazingly any real improvement in PQ with HD. Even when they buy a HDTV they don't bother hooking it up to any HD source. All they really want is the wider/bigger screen. Otherwise SD is perfectly fine with them.

 

[reidw]

nec207, the money issue is not with the government, it is with the stations or are you not aware most broadcasters including our specialty channels have been in dire straits for the last couple of years? Converting to HD involves more than a flipping a switch. A ton of equipment has to be upgraded. Since until recently most of our specialty channels were part of Canwest Global, one of the hardest hit, it made sense that they did not introduce HD services. (Over to you Shaw Media).

 

[reidw]

Have hollywood and the government pay most of the cost to covert to HD.

nec207, you've got to be joking. It doesn't work that way.

 

[reidw]

The OTA and specialty cable/satellite stations are in business to make money. They aren't public services. Up to now they haven't seen any profit in HD, only a lot of extra expense. The market and interest is just not present yet in Canada to justify the investment. Frankly it may never be. Remember to meet CRTC requirements for Aug. 2011 a service has to broadcast a digital signal only. That does not mean HD. Here in Canada I suspect that some small market digital services/channels will still be only digital SD ten years from now.

 

[reidw]

georgemx, you may be right but I remain sceptical. Time will tell.