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cdtv_admin@cdtv.ca
02/19/2005
10:37 AM
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jefandtery@canoemail.com wrote on 2021/2/17
Canadian OTA broadcasters
Most U.S. networks are now broadcasting OTA signals in High Definition (or at least Digital) format.
In Canada, the only Network presently broadcasting HDTV OTA is City T.V.in Toronto.
CBC in Toronto plans to start broadcasting on February 21. Have any other Canadian stations announced plans to broadcast OTA HDTV signals? If so when?
Comment from Admin.
CBC/Radio Canada have now placed the both the French and English transmitters on-air in Montreal and Toronto and will begin transmitting programs on Feb. 21. Content will be HD when available and at other times the SD material up-converted. The CTV station in Vancouver will be on-air in June and the CTV station in Toronto will come on around that date also. DTV is also broadcast in Toronto by Toronto 1 and in Hamilton by Crossroads TV. TQS is also ready to go in Montreal, once the antenna problem is resolved and others have been licensed and are in various stages of implementation. 2005 should be a good year for DTV implementation.
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bgoleary@allstream.net
02/23/2005
0:06 AM
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It is now 11:55 pm Feb 22. Apparently the Feb 21 date mentioned above was incorrect. CBC is not yet broadcasting any digital programming in Montreal yet. I live on Montreal's West Island and should not have any problem picking up their digital signals, since I pick up all of the Montreal VHF and UHF analogue channels. The only digital programming my set detects are the 2 streams (1 HD and 1 SD) broadcast by Mountain Lake PBS in Plattsburgh New York.
Brian O'Leary
Pointe-Claire QC
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cdtv_admin@cdtv.ca
02/23/2005
6:35 PM
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The CBC transmitters are located on the RC Building downtown at present, until some technical problems with the Mt. Royal tower can be resolved. Mont Royal causes a shadow in coverage to the West Island and may interfere with reception there.
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cdtv_admin@cdtv.ca
03/08/2021
4:08 PM
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thodgins@nbnet.nb.ca wrote on 2021/02/25
Canada needs to get moving on HD conversion
There seems to be very little effort to convert to HD in any city in Canada with a population below 1 million.
All stations across Canada must plan and then execute their strategy to convert to HD as soon as possible.
HD in Canada is here to stay. Work toward the day that no matter what station, large or small, is broadcasting their local supper hour news, it is broadcasting in HD. It is inevitable, - please make every effort to make it a reality as soon as possible.
Comment from Admin.
Right on!! The CDTV President, Michael McEwen made a very forceful address at the recent CSUA conference with the same theme …. Canadian broadcasters and programmers must move into HDTV or for ever loose their position to the US networks and programmers who are already 5 years ahead in getting into HDTV. We hope that it will have some effect. Already though, there are 5 stations on-air in Toronto in DTV, two are on air and one more will soon be on air in Montreal and new stations are anticipated this summer in Toronto, and Vancouver. The cable and satellite BDU’s have moved into HDTV rapidly, but there main source of HD programming is the US networks.
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cdtv_admin@cdtv.ca
03/08/2021
4:42 PM
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kellymc@mztv.com wrote on 2021/03/02
the transition to DTV
I'd like to know more about the transition from digital to analog. Supposedly, Canada is falling behind the US at an alarming rate. I read that the President of CDTV recently called for a clearly defined roll-out plan from the CRTC for the digital transition. People are saying the danger is that if we have no real Canadian content in HD, then viewers will be drawn to the American programs, instead... But who pays for this transition? Does the CRTC need to provide incentives? Do the broadcasters and distributors need to just bite the bullet and provide more than just upconverted and American stuff?
Comment from Admin.
I think you mean the transition from analog to digital and HDTV. Yes, Michael McEwen, President of CDTV, in his keynote address to the recent CSUA Conference made the plea for Canadian broadcasters and programmers to move rapidly into HDTV, or loose their place to imported US HD programs. The cable and satellite infrastructure is already there for this to happen and the soon-to-be announced HD-DVD will add fuel to the fire. McEwen believes that Canada is at least five years behind the US and loosing ground every day. The production, programming and OTA broadcasters are the focus.
Many solutions are put forward, as there are equally a number of excuses, but the reality is that all stake-holders in the Canadian television sector need to work together and keep their focus on the big picture, the survival and success of this sector in the HD age. A market-driven approach was sought for the transition and now the market will have to mature and emerge, while the CRTC will have to consider removing roadblocks and disincentives in regulations. There is no time to loose.
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cdtv_admin@cdtv.ca
03/09/2021
6:59 PM
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johncheers@itcanada.com wrote on 2021/03/08
hd stations
it appears that each HDstation ends up with 2 and sometimes 3 more stations for the consumer to watch.. Is this the norm? I’m excited, why , because I am on antenna and I get more stations.
Comment from Admin.
Yes, DTV broadcasters can include several program streams in their channel, if they so desire. Genrally, one channel of HD and one or two channels of SD can be made to work. This opens up many new possibilities for broadcasters to deliver programming to their audiences.
Good luck with your DTV watching.
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cdtv_admin@cdtv.ca
03/21/2005
8:41 PM
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bribuk@shaw.ca wrote on 2021/03/21
DTV Timeline?
Is there a similar mandate as to Canada having to switch to Digital TV - just like the Dec 31, 2021 date in the USA? I would bet that there isn't and the powers that be will wait and see what happens in the states. Any ideas?
How about any OTA HDTV stations across the country? Any projected dates for the Prairies?
Comment from Admin.
The Canadian changeover to DTV OTA is mandated to be ‘market driven’ without a firm schedule or date for its completion. This was requested by the industry and accepted by Ind. Canada and the CRTC some time ago. In a recent address to the CSUA conference, Michael McEwen, President of CDTV noted that this was not moving the industry fast enough and that Canada is already five years behind the USA and loosing ground. Action by all parties involved is required to break the log-jam and to ward off a wholesale departure of Canadian viewers to US HDTV sources.
At present, the only HDTV available in the Prairie region is from cable or satellite. OTA HDTV from Canadian is now available only in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver but US border stations are receivable in many other locations as well.
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cdtv_admin@cdtv.ca
03/25/2005
9:01 PM
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bgoleary@allstream.net wrote on 2021/03/24
Anomalies in DTV Transition Allotment Plan
On examining Industry Canada's DTV Transition Allotment Plan, I noticed a couple of anomalies for the Montreal area:
1) Channel 17 (CIVM) has been assigned channel 27 for digital broadcasting. Channel 27 has been in use since November 27, 2021 by WWBI in Plattsburgh, New York. Once an independent station and later a UPN station, it is now affiliated with PaxTV and can be picked up easily with a rooftop antenna in the Montreal area. How did Industry Canada miss this? In fairness to Industry Canada, WWBI is nowhere to be found in the FCC's DTV allotment plan. However, it has been broadcasting for more than 16 years and broadcasts a stronger signal than some of Montreal's stations.
2) CBC-TV (channel 6) was assigned channel 61 for digital broadcasting. The entry for CBC-TV contains the comment "ERP =< ch. 62". I find it strange that one of Canada's oldest TV stations is restricted to an effective radiated power less than or equal to that of CJNT, a station that started out as a low-power "community station" that has not increased its broadcast output since becoming part of CH.
Brian O'Leary
Pointe-Claire QC
Comment from Admin.
1. The Industry Canada and FCC allotment plans for DTV include allotments for most classes of existing TV broadcasters and space for many more new ones, as yet unidentified. The two plans have been coordinated across the border through extensive FCC/IC negotiations, complicated in some measure by the differences in station classes between the two administrations. The plans form the basis of efficient spectrum utilization, protecting existing services, where necessary, and minimizing interference. Some stations that are ‘drop-ins’ or secondary users of a channel may not be protected and will have to move or vacated when the allotment is used. In other cases, a broadcaster may request and be authorized to use a channel other than the allotted one, if sound technical reasons exist for doing so. The plan is quite flexible but is good guidance.
2. In Montreal, CBC is authorized to operate CBMT-DT on channel 20 with an ERP of 107 kW and CBFT-DT on ch. 19 with an ERP of 250 kW, fairly substantial power levels you will agree.
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cdtv_admin@cdtv.ca
06/23/2005
3:44 PM
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credekop@hotmail.com wrote on 2021/06/22
Required digital broadcast? A couple years ago I remember hearing something about all stations being required to have digital broadcasts by 2007 or 2008. Is that true or am I just making this up?
Comment from Admin.
In Canada, no deadline has been established for the DTV conversion of OTA broadcasters, rather, a “market driven” approach has been adopted. In reality, the CRTC has been moving very slowly on DTV applications and the DTV conversion is not expected to move beyond the major cities (Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver) for some time. In the USA, there are, however, deadlines imposed by the FCC, but conditional on DTV achieving 85% penetration of homes before the NTSC switch-off can occur. Current estimates place this time around 2010.
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cdtv_admin@cdtv.ca
07/04/2021
10:48 AM
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cfilm@hotmail.com wrote on 2021/06/30
Total # of HDTV Channels
Q1: What is the current total number of HDTV channels available in Canada (OTA: xx, Cable: xx, DTH: xx)?
Q2: Are there HD Playout facilities in Canada?
Answers from CDTV Admin.
Question 1. HDTV is available from Over-the-Air broadcasters, from cable and from satellite. Channel offerings may be duplicated between these media, so the total may be less than the sum. Also, Canadian viewers in the border areas, such as Montreal, Kingston, Toronto, Windsor and Vancouver can receive US HDTV OTA broadcasts directly and these are not counted here.
Typical figures are thus:
OTA. Montreal (2), Toronto (3), Hamilton (1), Vancouver (1) totaling 7 at present and several more already licensed and in construction.
Cable: 14 cable companies have indicated they are carrying HDTV signals. The major MSO’s, Rogers, Cogeco and Shaw offer a good range of channels. Rogers, for instance offers 21 channels of HD, including Canadian and US broadcasters and Canadian specialty channels.
Satellite. Two satellite BDU’s, Bell ExpressVu and StarChoice offer HDTV services. Bell ExpressVu offers 27 channels at present, including Canadian and US broadcasters and Canadian specialty channels.
Question 2. To support the HDTV channels, Canadian broadcasters, BDU’s and program providers have installed extensive HDTV production and playout facilities. There also exist HDTV mobile units for sports pickups and special events. The volume of HDTV production in Canada for both television and film production is rapidly increasing.
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