Despite hiccups, Canada’s ‘hard’ transition to digital went smoothly

With the exception of CBC/Radio-Canada and six other over-the-air television stations that could not meet the Aug. 31 deadline, Canada's transition to digital television broadcasting went smoothly, Valerie Plaskacz, head of broadcast distribution and access policy at the Heritage Department, says. “There were a couple of delays here and there, but the vast majority were able to complete their work on time,” Plaskacz said in an interview. She noted that six stations could not meet the deadline but have received extensions from the CRTC to do so by the end of the year. The CBC has also received a one-year extension from the CRTC for 22 transmitters that were originally required to make the switchover by Aug. 31—and the broadcaster now says it doesn't know whether it can make the new deadline, mostly due to budgetary issues. The Heritage Department established a toll-free hotline and website to help inform people of the transition. Plaskacz said the website has received about 200,000 visits since January and the department received a total of about 11,000 inquiries to its information line. The department is now receiving fewer than 25 calls per day, she said. “It's dropped off quite a bit,” Plaskacz said. “We're using that as a gauge that we think the information is out there.” By midnight Aug. 31, all over-the-air broadcasters in large, mandatory markets in Canada or those in other markets operating on channels 52 to 69 were required to cease analog broadcasting and start up in digital. Plaskacz said that, based on information provided by broadcasters, a total of 151 transmitters made the switchover to digital on Sept. 1, including 143 towers in mandatory markets and another eight outside those markets using channels 52 to 69. Like the United States, Canada implemented a “hard” switchover to the transition with a national deadline, as opposed to jurisdictions like Australia and the U.K., which are making the switchover in phases. Prior to Canada's transition, there was some concern from experts and consumer advocates that too many Canadians were unaware of the transition and that, following the Aug. 31 deadline, they would be without the receiving equipment necessary to pick up digital channels. The CRTC has estimated that, according to 2009 data, about 7.3 per cent of Canadian households relied on over-the-air television signals and that 826,000 to 857,500 households may need over-the-air digital converter boxes to ensure no loss of signal. Plaskacz said she believes that the vast majority of consumers who needed new equipment to make the transition have now done so. “We were encouraging people to get ready ahead of the transition, and I think to a large degree people did that,” she said. She said it's difficult to say whether the amount of people making the transition was lower than expected, but added: “presumably, the number of people who were affected was relatively low.” Plaskacz said many people who watch over-the-air TV are in border areas where they can pick up American signals, and many of them probably converted to digital following the American transition in June 2009. Mike Woollatt, vice-president of government affairs at BCE Inc. subsidiary Bell Media Inc., which owns the CTV group of stations, said in an interview that the broadcasters' public service announcements about the transition were effective at getting the word out—even though they were “overkill.” “The private broadcasters ended up carrying the lion's share of the work, but that said, it seemed to go fairly well,” Woollatt said. “It cost us millions of dollars and they ran from May through the month of August. I imagine that people got good information from those. It was overkill, but they probably got good information.” In March, the CRTC announced rules requiring broadcasters to air public service announcements to inform the public about the transition. Starting in May, each broadcaster had to air the announcements a minimum of six times per day, 25 per cent of them in prime time. On Aug. 1, they had to increase the ads to eight times per day. Private broadcasters were also required to establish information lines and to include those phone numbers in the announcements for viewers to call for more information. Woollatt said CTV's hotline received calls from many people who were confused but that the number is now down to a “trickle.” He said there is still some confusion because in some markets the CBC continues to operate in analog while other broadcasters have switched to digital. “Those people watching CBC don't have an issue right now, but they're probably wondering where their CTV channel went,” he said. “We'll revisit that again, I guess next year, when the CBC again says they won't be able to do it.” Woollatt added: “You could say, 'Canada's done the digital transition, sort of.'” Plaskacz said some people continue to call into the department with questions about stations in their areas, signal strength, how to connect digital converter boxes, as well as general information about why the transition is necessary. She said broadcasters are still making adjustments and that signals will continue to improve their reach over the next couple of months. “In some cases people are not receiving the same signals that they were getting previously, the rules for the transition were that broadcasters are meant to have the same coverage areas,” Plaskacz said. “We're encouraging people to continue to rescan because some of the stations will be coming on over time.” Ian Morrison, a spokesman for watchdog group the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, said that following the transition the organization received a number of calls from people who said they couldn't receive channels. He said the number of people affected may not be lower than expected and that those people may be living without traditional TV. “I guess what's happening is there's a million and a half light television users out there of all ages who have been inconvenienced,” he said. “They're finding ways to live their lives without it or they're scraping together the money to make it happen.” sdoyle@thewirereport.ca --- Stations to convert to digital later this year Broadcaster Station City New deadline Canal Savoir CFTU-TV Montreal, Que. Dec. 15 CTV CKCW-TV Moncton, N.B. Sept. 8 V CFGS-TV Ottawa-Gatineau Oct. 31 V CFVS-TV Rouyn-Noranda, Que. Oct. 31 CBC CBWT Winnipeg, Man. Oct. 31 Radio-Canada CBWFT Winnipeg, Man. Oct. 31

Despite hiccups, Canada’s ‘hard’ transition to digital went smoothly

Broadcast | October 18, 2011

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