TORONTO – High definition television set owners in Toronto and Vancouver can now pick up CTV in HD, over the air.
The company officially announced its digital transmitters on Toronto’s CN Tower and Vancouver’s Mount Seymour are operational. CTV is the first national conventional Canadian broadcaster to transmit HD OTA, says the company. (Ed note: this is a clarification of an earlier version of this story which said CTV was the first Canadian broadcaster to offer high definition over the air – a distinction several readers pointed out – and that www.cartt.ca should have remembered – belongs to Citytv in Toronto. Plus, CBC turned theirs on in the spring in Toronto and Montreal, Fred Mattocks, CBC’s Executive Director, Production and Resources, tells us. We apologize for the error.)
CTV’s HD signals, identified as "CTV HD East" and "CTV HD West," can be seen by viewers with an HD-capable television equipped with a digital tuner and antenna.
“Today’s announcement represents the latest development in the multi-stage rollout of CTV Inc.’s Canadian High Definition strategy,” says the company. “It’s also timely since virtually every hour in prime-time in the 2005-2006 season will be broadcast in High Definition on ‘CTV HD East’ and ‘CTV HD West.’”
Thirty-seven Canadian and U.S. series, 14 movies and more specials are all available for broadcast. In all, CTV’s High Definition content represents more HD hours than any other broadcaster (see below).
"Every day more Canadians are embracing high definition. As the momentum builds, CTV is committed to staying at the forefront of the curve in Canada. With over-the-air transmission now available in Canada’s two largest English-language markets, and across the country on digital cable and Bell ExpressVu, more Canadians are now able to access this signal,” said CTV president Rick Brace.
CTV’s High Definition Program Inventory, 2005-2006 Season
Canadian Series
Corner Gas
Degrassi: The Next Generation
Instant Star
Whistler
Alice, I Think
Jeff Ltd.
U.S. Series
According to Jim
Alias
Close To Home
Cold Case
Commander In Chief
Criminal Minds
Crumbs
CSI
CSI: Miami
CSI: New York
Desperate Housewives
ER
Ghost Whisperer
Grey’s Anatomy
In Justice
Inconceivable
Invasion
Law & Order
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: SVU
Less Than Perfect
Lost
Medium
Rodney
The Evidence
The Night Stalker
The O.C.
The Sopranos V
The West Wing
Twins
What About Brian
Canadian Movies
Doomstown
Hunt For Justice: The Louise Arbour Story
Friend of the Family
Last Exit
North Of Hope
One Dead Indian
Playing House
Shades of Black: The Conrad Black Story
Selling Innocence
Spirit Bear
The Man Who Lost Himself: The Terry Evanshen Story
War Correspondent — The Clark Todd Story.
Terry
Specials
The 2006 JUNO Awards
The Academy Awards
Bell Canadian Open
In addition to CTV’s conventional high definition line-up, the company’s two leading specialty services are also HD leaders. This year (2005) TSN is in the midst of a broadcast schedule that features 645 hours of HD programming from more than 200 national and international events. Leading the way are TSN’s CFL broadcasts (23), home Blue Jay broadcasts (25), NASCAR races (21) , NBA broadcasts (26) NFL broadcasts (25) and more. Meanwhile, sister service Discovery Channel has not only aired over 500 hours of HD programming since its August, 2003 launch, but its EPI production arm is a leader in Canada in producing HD content for Discovery and other Canadian broadcasters.
