OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Conventional television stations must kick off their national awareness campaign on the pending digital transition by May 1, 2011, the CRTC said Friday.
Broadcasters that are required to make the transition must air public service announcements at least six times per day, and at least 25% must be shown in prime time, between 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. The announcements must be at least 30 seconds long, be closed captioned, contain audio descriptions of on-screen information and include the following elements:
– a statement to the effect that the Canadian television system is in the process of converting its over-the-air transmitters from analog to digital;
– a statement to the effect that some viewers may experience a loss of service following the conversion, if applicable;
– a statement to the effect that only those viewers who receive the signal directly over-the-air may be impacted by the conversion;
– a statement to the effect that an over-the-air viewer may need to take steps to continue receiving and viewing the station’s over-the-air programming after the conversion and an indication of where further information on those steps can be found, and;
– the licensee’s contact information and website address.
Broadcasters must increase the public service announcements’ frequency to eight times per broadcast day beginning on August 1, 2011 or one month before the licensee ceases to broadcast in analog or changes channel, whichever is sooner. The information must also be posted on the broadcaster’s website.
Click here for more on the Commission’s regulations for the digital TV transition.
