CRTC slaps down application for new HD stations

[hugh]

In three separate decisions handed down today, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) turned down multiple applications from High Fidelity HDTV Inc. to operate two new English language high definitions and one standard definition channel in Canada.

[smootherator]

wow..so is that how the CRTC operates?

Anything in direct competition to what already has been proposed by our monopolistic media companies gets rejected..even if it doesnt even exist yet....

[tomm4004]

A Canadian channel showing HD 24/7? Um, who could they possibly be competing with? Nobody does this. It's frustrating channel surfing some nights to find nothing in HD on Canadian channels.

[gobisbay]

Shouldn't this be called the "anti-competitive policy"?

So if you're competing with the Rogers/Bell oligopoly, you'll be turned away at the gate?

I thought the CRTC was run by the government, not the telco industry.

"This year I'll be voting, but not for the first time. This year, Stephen Harper can kiss my ***, then kiss Jim Prentice."

[MistahTibbs]

Sometimes I really dislike living in Canada.

MT

[temp41]

Now had the applicants suggested an all Canadian content lineup, WELLLL
Now your getting somewhere.

The objecting networks and broadcasters would have had the objections overruled by the CRTC.

[reidw]

Originally Posted by tomm4004

A Canadian channel showing HD 24/7? Um, who could they possibly be competing with? Nobody does this. It's frustrating channel surfing some nights to find nothing in HD on Canadian channels.

If you get Bell then here are the 24/7 HD channels

- Discovery HD
- HDNET Canada
- Equator
- Rush
- Treasure
- Oasis
(Did I miss any?)

The last four by the way are owned by the same Hi-Fidelity that the CRTC turned down. They have shown in the past that they can deliver HD 24/7 not the truncated 3 or 4 hours of HD a day most other Canadian HD stations provide . That the CRTC would turn them down is ludicrous.

[nfitz]

Originally Posted by smootherator

wow..so is that how the CRTC operates?

Anything in direct competition to what already has been proposed by our monopolistic media companies gets rejected..even if it doesnt even exist yet....

Are you surprised? After the rejection of the well-though out application to operate a TV station in St. Catharines-Niagara Falls - by far the largest Canadian community to not have a TV station - it was quite clear that the CRTC doesn't possess much interest in anything except protecting monopolies.

[wgauci]

Wow... The only thing missing from this story is a banner on the top saying it's "The Onion" web page. I don't even think they could make up something so ridiculous. God forbid Canadians be offered a choice. A competitive policy that forbids you from competing. Hmmm.. Only in Canada you say?? Pity.

[PlayitSimple]

So much for the notion that they were going to allow Canadian channels to compete against one another, as discussed at the hearing the CRTC had in April?! I guess that isn't happening any time soon. Still waiting for a stupid decision to come down regarding that hearing and the supposed rule changes that were going to be made. What happened to the 'market-oriented' approach they were going to take?!

I think its about damn time that the CRTC is overhauled and some major reforms take place. The only purpose this committee (or whatever the hell it is) should have is to monitor content on the airwaves so nothing offensive is aired or nothing harmful to children. Aside from that the only other potential issue that they might have a say over is Canadian content and ensure that we get some quality programs instead of the filler junk networks air now just to meet their CDN content requirements. The CRTC should not be involved in distribution and dictating to consumers what they can and cannot watch- that is up to the people via their wallets and what they want to pay to watch.

On another note, regarding the applications themselves- the reason they were denied is because they were too broad in scope. They just wanted to air movies in HD, had they made the nature of service more specific, its possible that they may have been approved.

[Zornblad]

I've been saying these things for over 30 years! Yet they're still controlling what we watch and listen to.

_AL

[Anshar]

nfitz: You beat me to it. I live in Niagara Falls and went to the CRTC hearing for TVN. There was huge local support for it and CHCH was nearly booed off stage whenever they said that they cover the Niagara Region. The reasoning behind TVN's rejection was equally ludicrous: The CRTC thought that the station would probably fail, so they weren't even allowed to try.

This latest decision is just further proof that the CRTC is looking out for big business, not for the Canadian people. I wish I could blame this on the Conservatives, but let's face it: the CRTC has always been like this no matter who's in office.

[randomusername2]

Hugh, you said stations so the headline led me to believe OTA channels were being proposed but the article sounds like it's just another channel for satellite or digital cable.

Wasn't there a proposal from John Bitove a few months back to build an HD OTA network? Now that would have been nice.

[jpo58]

" very disappointed" in CRTC when it comes to john bitove

If Mr. Bitove can produce better picture quality with high bandwidth then he has the right to do so!

what is CRTC afraid of ?

[gretzky]

my opinion the CRTC caused more problems to the radiocommunication system in canada than it solved problems in 30 years of existence