HDTV in Canada
History of DTV development in Canada
November 1995 - Creation of the
Ministers Task Force on the Implementation of DTV in Canada
October 1997 - Presented Task Force
Report to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Industry Canada, - 17 Recommendations
June 1998 - Recommended the Canadian
DTV standard is ATSC - Adopted in by Canadian Government
November 1997 - Canadian
allotment plan gazetted, released by Industry Canada and revised in April
1998
May 1998 - Canadian Digital
Television (CDTV) set-up in to manage the orderly transition from analogue to digital
television in Canada
February 1999 - Roll-Out in U.S.
influences Canadian roll-out, Canada plans 18 month to 2 year lag behind the U.S. going
operational (U.S. deemed operational Fall 2002)
October 1999 - First DTH HD Broadcast from Canadian satellite launched October 24
December 1999 - CDTV test transmitter on
ch. 67 in Ottawa operational
September 2000 - U.S. and Canada reach
agreement on implementing digital television service along the U.S./Canada border
December 2000 - First Canadian live HD
production Kitchener Ontario Figure Skating by TSN/CTV/Bell ExpressVu
June 2001 - Canadian
Radio-Television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) calls for comments on proposed
policy to oversee the transition from analog to digital over-the-air television
broadcasting
September and
December 2001 - CDTV demonstrates the
first Canadian simultaneous over-the-air, cable, satellite DTV transmission in Canada
July 2001 - CDTV demonstration DTV
station operational on ch. 66 in Toronto
June 2002 - CRTC releases regulatory
framework for transition to over-the-air digital television services
1) Market-driven
2) All analog license holders granted a DTV license
3) Emphasis on HDTV Programming as a benefit to the viewer
December, 2002 - CDTV test transmitter in Montreal on air on ch. 64
September
2002 – CDTV test transmitter on
ch. 64 in Montreal operational
February 2003 - CITY-TV, first Canadian
DTV broadcaster, on-the-air in Toronto on ch. 53
August 2003 – Specialty Channels
TSN & Discovery launch their HD services
November 2003 – CTV becomes the
first national network broadcaster to begin distribution of HD services, OTA distribution
to follow
November 2003 - Distribution Framework
released by the CRTC
November 2003 - First French language live HD production Vu/Canal Indigo/Bell ExpressVu
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