CBC to re-submit rejected transition plan for Fredericton, Saint-John

Following the CRTC’s rejection of a CBC application about its over-the-air television service for Fredericton and Saint John, N.B., the broadcaster says it intends to re-file an amended application that would still see the end of an over-the-air signal for Saint-John. “We studied the option of installing a digital transmitter that would cover both Fredericton and Saint John from our current transmission site on Mount Champlain. That option is not financially viable given the frequency we’ve been allocated by Industry Canada for the transmitter,” the CBC’s vice-president and chief regulatory officer, Steven Guiton, said in a release Wednesday. On Wednesday, the CRTC denied the CBC's digital transition plan for the Fredericton, Saint John area. The decision came in response to a consultation the commission opened in January on an application from the CBC to add a digital transmitter to serve the Fredericton market. The CBC’s plan involved moving the new, digital transmitter to Fredericton, but this meant that over-the-air reception of CBC would be cut off in Saint John. The CBC also said it had no plans to convert its transmitter in Moncton, meaning that market would also lose reception after the digital transition. Broadcasters operating in mandatory markets are required to shut off their analog transmitters and move to digital, over-the-air television broadcasting by Aug. 31. Fredericton and Saint John are both designated as mandatory markets. The CRTC wrote in its notice of consultation that the CBC's proposal for Saint John was inconsistent with its policy, which requires broadcasters to match their existing analog coverage with digital coverage. The commission also said the CBC's proposal would result in a 62.5 per cent drop in the station's potential viewership. But in a previous interview with The Wire Report, Guiton said the CRTC's numbers were incorrect. Guiton said 95 per cent of Saint John residents access the CBC through cable or satellite services. The commission received about 81 letters in opposition to the CBC's plans. In its decision Wednesday, the CRTC reiterated that the CBC's application is inconsistent with its policy and noted that the public broadcaster failed to provide detailed estimates of the costs of replacing the service's current coverage. In the CBC’s press release following the decision, the broadcaster indicated that it intends to re-file the application, this time including cost estimates, which it says will show the commission it is unfeasible to replace the currently served area with digital coverage. The CBC said Wednesday that offering digital broadcasting to both towns would cost it over $3 million and would incur annual operating costs of about $350,000. “These costs would be six times greater than those of the Fredericton transmitter proposal denied today by the CRTC,” the CBC said. “The Corporation concluded that an investment of that magnitude to serve Saint John—where over 95 per cent of the population subscribes to cable or satellite—was unfeasible given resources and given the continuing decline in over-the-air usage in that market.” Although it is re-filing its application, the CBC also suggested that the commission grant it an exception to continue broadcasting in analogue in the area. The CRTC recently granted exceptions for broadcasters in Yellowknife, Whitehorse and Iqaluit. Guiton said in an email to The Wire Report Thursday that the CBC does not have a specific time frame in mind to make the move to digital broadcasting in Saint John. “The analogue equipment won't last forever, hopefully a couple of years. We expect by that time OTA usage will be well below the current 5% provincial average for New Brunswick,” he said. “In Saint John over 95% already receive TV from cable and DTH . As we're doing in the non-mandatory markets, our proposal to continue analogue in Saint John will simply allow people more time to transition to other technologies.” Guiton also said that assigning the CBC a stronger signal may help the CBC reach a larger audience in the area. He said the broadcaster has also contacted Industry Canada in an attempt to be assigned a new, more powerful signal. The CBC added in its release that it intends to invest in the regions over the next five years, but instead of allocating funds to digital transmitters, it will focus on enhancing its multi-platform regional content and on finding ways to provide local radio and online services to the seven million Canadians who currently are not served by a regional station. Ian Morrison, spokesman for watchdog group the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, said in an interview that the CRTC made the right decision in denying the application. “They will have to change their policy. They'll have to change what they're doing. They can't just disobey a CRTC decision about a transmitter,” he said. Morrison added that the CBC is acting like a private broadcaster. “It's a question of priority,” he said. “Somebody inside their operation is saying we're going to spend on this, and not on a digital transmitter that would serve the people of the greater Saint John area.” Morrison said people shouldn't be forced to purchase cable or satellite services for access to the CBC. Morrison also said that the CBC's suggestion of continuing to broadcast in analog would be a temporary solution because it wouldn't be clear how long it would take to move to digital. Steven James May, a PhD student in communication and culture at Ryerson University and author of a blog on the digital transition, said in an interview that the CRTC's decision sets a precedent for other non-compliant applications before the CRTC. “I applaud the CRTC regarding , and I hope they stick with their plan,” he said. May said that granting the CBC an exception would be a “band-aid” solution that would contribute to the “hodgepodge” approach the government is taking to the digital transition. “I'm not a big fan of this whole, 'You have to go digital here, you can go digital there if you want,'” he said. “Are we making this transition or not?” kfournier@thewirereport.ca

CBC to re-submit rejected transition plan for Fredericton, Saint-John

Broadcast | March 24, 2011

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