GATINEAU – HG could soon be in HD. Alliance Atlantis Communications has applied to the CRTC for high definition licences for its specialty networks: HGTV Canada, Food Network Canada, Showcase Television, History Television, Life Network, and National Geographic Channel.
The programming would be the same as the analog versions of the services.
In the application documents available on the CRTC site, Alliance Atlantis did not indicate when it hoped to begin airing HD programs. It did say that high definition licences “will be important to positioning” the channels “as the industry migrates to HD” and that the broadcaster “looks forward to providing its viewers with compelling HD programming.”
The CRTC noted its November 2003 framework for distributing digital television signals, which states: “The Commission will permit the licensee of a Canadian pay or specialty service to make available for distribution an upgraded version of the service, provided that not less than 95% of the video and audio components of the upgraded and analog versions of the service are the same, exclusive of the commercial messages and of any part of the service carried on a subsidiary signal. The Commission will authorize such an upgraded version by means of an amendment to the licence of the corresponding analog service.”
The deadline to submit interventions and comments on the applications is May 30.
