Digital television in Canada
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The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has adopted the same digital television standard for stations in Canada as the United States. The CRTC initially decided not to enforce a single date for transitioning to digital broadcasts, opting to let the economy decide when the switchover will occur.[1] However, a later decision settled on the date of August 31, 2011.[2]
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[edit] History
CITY-TV was the first Canadian station to provide digital terrestrial service. As of 2007, other digital stations on-air include the CBC and Radio-Canada stations in Toronto and Montreal, as well as CTV's CFTO and CIVT, and CKXT (SUN TV). This list is not necessarily exhaustive and other station launches are completed or pending, although most are in the largest markets of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. Also, this does not include digital or high definition versions of specialty services.
[edit] Nationwide network terrestrial deployments
On November 22, 2003, CBC had their first broadcast in HD, in the form of the Heritage Classic outdoor NHL game between the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens. Bell ExpressVu, a Canadian satellite company, Rogers Cable and Videotron provide somewhat more than 21 HDTV channels to their subscribers including TSN HD, SportsNet HD, Discovery HD (Canadian Edition), The Movie Network HD, and several U.S. stations plus some PBS feeds and a couple of pay-TV movie channels.
- CTV Toronto broadcast in HD along with its western counterpart, BC CTV.
- The CTV network was also the first to broadcast a terrestrial HD digital ATSC signal in Canada. Global joined the crowd in late 2004.
[edit] Regional terrestrial deployments
CHUM Limited's Citytv in Toronto was the first HDTV broadcaster in Canada; however, now most cable and satellite subscribers across Canada can access multiple channels in HDTV with major American and Canadian affiliate stations broadcasting HDTV signals with no CANCON overlay for advertising.
As of Summer 2006 CBC HD officially launched their HDTV programming on March 5 2005.
- CBC HD broadcasts the first game of their Hockey Night In Canada Saturday double header in HDTV. The 2006 NHL Playoff games have seen an increased amount of HDTV coverage as well.
[edit] TVRO and DTH avalablity
Star Choice, another Canadian satellite provider, currently offers its subscribers 14 HDTV channels at no extra cost.
[edit] Cable system deployments
Shaw Cable has found limited success with HDTV implementation since the cost of an HD PVR is near the $750 CAD mark. Monthly rentals for this equipment are not available; however, they do offer financing on 36-month terms through a third-party credit company.
[edit] See also
Related topics
[edit] Notes
- ^ Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2002-31. Retrieved on 2008-01-11.
- ^ Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2007-53. Retrieved on 2008-01-11.
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