By Steve Faguy
MONTREAL — Bell Canada is telling subscribers “satellite spacing issues” are behind a recent decision to remove high-definition feeds of local CTV stations from its satellite distribution service but is not giving any details.
On Nov. 22, Bell removed HD feeds for CTV stations in Ottawa, Moncton, Kitchener, Ont., Sydney, N.S., and the four CTV Northern Ontario stations. The standard definition feeds were kept and subscribers were encouraged to tune into those channels instead or were simply shown a message saying “This channel is no longer available.”
Responding to complaints sent on Twitter, Bell said, “Due to satellite spacing issues, CTV HD affiliates have been removed from our Timeshift packaging.”
When asked about the removal, and whether other services would be replacing the removed HD services, Bell Canada spokesperson Caroline Audet repeated the message that stations have been removed, adding only that “It’s a business decision.”
Capacity has been an ongoing issue for Bell’s satellite service, which uses Telesat’s Nimiq 4 and Nimiq 6 satellites. At its last licence renewal in 2019, Bell noted it continues “to operate under severe capacity limitations.” The company also said there is no regulatory requirement to carry local stations in high definition and indicated it already has “a proven track record of carrying most local TV stations in HD.”
Days after cutting the feeds, Bell restored CTV Ottawa’s HD signal on Channel 1041, apparently in response to customer complaints, which came mainly from CTV Ottawa viewers. (Bell would not confirm why Ottawa was restored.)
Because Bell owns CTV, there will not be complaints from the broadcaster, as there have been from many independent stations trying to get HD carriage on satellite. This may be why Bell chose to remove CTV stations instead of competitors. And even with the cuts, Bell Satellite is still distributing more CTV and CTV2 stations in HD than Global and Citytv combined.
