TICK, TICK, TICK. There are 407 days left until the end of analog over-the-air television in the major markets the CRTC has identified as must-switches (just look up and to the right to see our countdown clock).
Last week the CRTC, as we reported here, said 857,000 households in major markets will be left without viable TV signals because they use older analog sets fed by rabbit ears or some other sort of antenna because they continue to receive their television off-air.
It also okayed a "Freesat" type of alternative (free service for a small package “local” stations, after a hardware charge of a few hundred dollars) for those Canadians in smaller markets whose local OTA stations might simply shut off their transmitters rather than upgrade.
The CRTC also said it would help facilitate a trial market which would go digital early, allowing other Canadian cities to learn from mistakes and identify best practices. The Commission thinks Winnipeg would be a good place for that.
Data is good. The Freesat model might work for some. A test bed is likely a good idea.
But Canadians still don’t know much, if anything about this switchover and what it will mean to them (if anything). They need to be told what’s going on and when, how it will affect them and what they need to do. (What about that TV in the garage, will it work on September 1, 2011?)
For that part, everyone is relying upon the industry to develop a plan of education and action and there’s been nothing as yet. Broadcasters and the Commission were hoping the federal government would help co-ordinate and fund a citizen education campaign, but no dice.
In response to the Commission’s release last week, Heritage Minister James Moore simply sent out a press release backing the August 31, 2011 deadline referring us all to a speech he made back in 2008 on the issue and saying no further help would be forthcoming from the federal government.
The Canadian broadcasters said almost nothing as well. CTV’s EVP corporate affairs Paul Sparkes told Cartt.ca through a spokesperson: “We are on target to meet the CRTC’s deadline in the mandatory markets. However, these are significant expenses for which we have no way of recouping the investment. If value for signal does not move forward, we may need to re-consider the timing of our digital roll-out.”
VFS (or FFC) is awaiting a court ruling at the moment, as readers may be aware.
Through a spokesperson, the CBC declined to comment other than to say it might be late in some markets, but it’s “working with the CRTC to find a solution to those.”
An e-mail to Canwest’s regulatory department on Friday has not yet been answered.
We tried to get in touch with Minister Moore to get a fuller answer than what was in his official press release sent out late Friday afternoon. We want to know why the government won’t fund a subsidy program for Canadians who can’t afford to switch to digital, why it won’t help the state-owned CBC with its transition and why it refuses to take a leadership role in the education campaign or provide any resources to make Canadians aware of the switch.
A spokesman told us Monday that Minister Moore was now on vacation, unavailable for an interview and that “we are not planning on subsidizing or paying for converter boxes. The U.S. spent almost $2 billion on this and we do not plan to do this in Canada.”
Of course, Americans redeemed over 34 million coupons for cheap digital converters, or more than the population of Canada. So, to intimate that such a program would cost anywhere near that much is laughable in the extreme (the CRTC’s last estimate said it might cost $80 million for a decoder subsidy program AND consumer education campaign) and also indicative of how dismissive this minister and the federal government has been on this issue.
The lack of readiness for the digital transition is something we at Cartt.ca have been harping on for well over 18 months. What’s your take? Are we making too big a deal out of something that won’t affect a lot of Canadians, or is this a crucial transition where, if the industry does get it wrong, will just drive more people, more quickly, away from the traditional TV business to get their entertainment elsewhere.
Leave a comment below or let us know at editorial@cartt.ca.
