HD in QUEBEC: Big costs, small market. Should government pitch in?

IN QUEBEC, YOU HAVE TO GO DEEP into a conversation with a private TV network manager before you’ll hear even a hint of excitement about the visual and audio pleasures that await viewers of HDTV. “Sure, we’re anxious to see all that,” finally confesses Richard Baril, Operations Director for RDS, the all-sports network and sister station of TSN. “For viewers, especially if they’ve ever seen an HD broadcast, they’d like to have it tomorrow. “But as a manager and administrator,” he quickly adds, hearing the adding machine toting up the bills, “there are enormous costs, and I understand the financial...