TORONTO, BARRIE, OTTAWA and HALIFAX — Four channels in Bell Media’s CTV/CTV2 family of networks are changing frequencies as of midnight on August 5, requiring over-the-air viewers in the affected areas to rescan their televisions to continue receiving the channels’ signals.
The government-mandated transmitter updates (the old frequencies are about to be used by wireless companies) affect the following channels:
- CTV Ottawa’s Channel 13
- CTV2 Ottawa’s Channel 43
- CTV Halifax’s Channel 5
- CTV2 Toronto/Barrie (Fonthill) Channel 42
Subscribers accessing these channels through direct-to-home satellite, cable, Bell Fibe or other distribution platforms will not be impacted.
Mandated by ISED in Canada and the Federal Communications Commission in the U.S., this “TV channel repack” program requires broadcasters with over-the-air services to transition into a tighter spectrum to free up more spectrum for wireless carriers, explains the news release.
For more information and FAQs on these transmitter changes, please click here.
This is a costly move for broadcasters and while Bell Media has generally been silent on this, smaller broadcasters have asked ISED for financial help to make the move. ISED has yet to respond to those requests.
