Bell adds seven community-owned channels to satellite lineup

OTTAWA – Bell has added seven community-owned and operated TV channels to its basic satellite lineup. As a result, Canadians in rural communities in B.C., Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and New Brunswick can now see community channels in their area.

That’s great news to Ed Christie in Harvey, York County, NB, where cable distribution was cut in 2009. “We used to operate a community channel out of our high school." Since 2009, Christie said, “there’s been no community TV channel providing regular coverage to this area, except in St. Andrews, 100 kilometres away. But we were beyond the reach of its broadcast signal and couldn’t get it on cable.”

Patrick Watt, the manager of the St. Andrews community channel (one of the seven that can now be seen on Bell) agrees: “The majority of the cable community stations that once existed in New Brunswick have been shut down. Community-owned licences are the solution, but we needed a distribution partner that could reach more viewers. Bell has stepped up.”

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, when roughly 80% of Canadian households subscribed to cable, the community channels operated by cable companies functioned almost like a virtual townhall. Local MPs could host a “Dial Your MP” show and know that it was reaching most of their community. Local talent, hobbies, culture and current events were showcased. Since satellite was introduced in the late 1990s, Canadians have been able to watch TV on a multitude of platforms: over the air, cable, satellite, the Internet, and now mobile platforms. As a result, cable penetration has fallen to about 60%.

“It’s difficult for a community to build a consistent sense of itself if everyone is watching different media,” said Catherine Edwards of the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations. “So we’ve been encouraging communities to apply to the CRTC for their own TV licences. The basic licence is for free-to-air TV that you can pick up with an antenna, and the CRTC ensures that they’re available on basic cable. Satellite was the missing piece of the puzzle for them to share what’s going on regardless of the platform individual residents choose for TV service. Satellite has the advantage that it’s available everywhere in Canada, whereas the range of both broadcast TV and cable is limited.”

The following community-operated TV channels are now available on Bell Satellite TV: