Television sources > Free to Air (FTA) Satelilte Television

Popularizing FTA satellite in Canada

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DrSat:

--- Quote from: cyberham on August 23, 2014, 09:22 am ---OTA is required to keep their broadcast licence isn't it? FTA isn't.

--- End quote ---

The Broadcasting Act does not officially require the CBC to be available on OTA but rather "by the most appropriate and efficient means"


--- Quote --- Mandate
The 1991 Broadcasting Act states that...

"...the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, as the national public broadcaster, should provide radio and television services incorporating a wide range of programming that informs, enlightens and entertains;

...the programming provided by the Corporation should:

be predominantly and distinctively Canadian, reflect Canada and its regions to national and regional audiences, while serving the special needs of those regions,
actively contribute to the flow and exchange of cultural expression,
be in English and in French, reflecting the different needs and circumstances of each official language community, including the particular needs and circumstances of English and French linguistic minorities,
strive to be of equivalent quality in English and French,
contribute to shared national consciousness and identity,
be made available throughout Canada by the most appropriate and efficient means and as resources become available for the purpose, and
reflect the multicultural and multiracial nature of Canada."1

--- End quote ---

However the main issue with the CBC is that they did nothing to permanently  replace the coverage they lost when all their OTA transmitters outside originating cities (i.e. with a TV studio) were shut down. 

They kept referring people who complained to Shaw Direct's LTSS program. However, this is only a stopgap measure as I don't believe that program can accept any new signups.

The least they could have done is to have a Ku band transponder with both English and French CBC in HD up on the Telstar 14R satellite @ 63W which is one of the few which has a spotbeam covering ALL of Canada with limited U.S. coverage which would avoid the issue they have in regards to program rights.

Jorgek:
I have a concern about the future of FTA but OTA as well.
The CRTC is inviting comments re the possibility of doing away with OTA altogether.  I'm sure due to the likes of Rogers, Bell etc. who would prefer that free TV totally disappears.
Would FTA them adopt the same model and scramble?

The internet to many is an alternative to FTA.  I recently bought a used dish.  The seller told me that the programs that he liked (ethnic) were available on the internet so he did not need FTA anymore.

Emerald_Boar:
Internet may be great but if you use to much Bandwidth.  You could be paying hundreds of dollars.

One of craziest things about CBC for London.  If they had flipped RF in Toronto (SRC use rf 20 and CBC use rf 25).  Then in theory on a good tropo night.  Some people in London may be able watch CBC on occasion.  (In London Omni 2 uses rf 20).

CBC has poor management.  Why would they care if people who can not afford cable get the signal.  Its obv people should hack into your neighbourhood cable provider lines.  Plus, If people can not afford cable.  How can they buy any thing on the commericals that are advertised on CBC.

CBC prefer to compete in a hundreds of channels world on cable.  Then against a dozen vs OTA world.

Checking CBC internet feeds.  Good news.  There are 37 shows you can watch ( http://www.cbc.ca/player/ )
Half of which are "Coronation Street"

What does CBC broadcast that there would be copyright issues?  Coronation Street?  CBC should be on a FTA satellites across the world.  But at the very least all across Canada.  2 different satellite would fully cover Canada.

Good Luck,
EB

Satfan3000:
The two real issues why FTA has not caught on are 1) The size of the dish. 2) Having an unobstructed view of the southern sky (arc). Fixed DBS satellite system are smaller in size and are fixed to one or two satellites, so most people don't mind the installation. I have many neighbours that have their view some how blocked. Then you get into having multiple dishes and you have a lot of wives getting upset.


Personally I would love to have a BUD (at least 7.5ft) to catch the majority of the FTA channels available. But, in an urban setting that it hard for most to swallow. Outside of the GTA area I can't see why Canadians would get a dish system. With the cost of a year's subscription you can install your own complete system with plenty to watch for years to come.


I've recently dove back into the FTA hobby and I was surprised at how much is now available in full HD. Even on just KU band. This past Saturday I was watching many US college footballs games that were not available on OTA.

Gatewayguy:
As someone who just became aware of this option for free TV about 30 minutes ago, and is still learning, perhaps I can offer some insight on how to make FTA more popular.

First, give me assurance this is all legal.
Next, make it easy for me.  Assume I am not a hobbyist but just a guy who wants to watch lots of free TV.  What I need to know is:
1. what will it cost me, in total
2. what channels will I get where I live.  The sort order of the list should be from most commonly watched (CTV, NBC, CBS, FOX) to least (foreign-language, cultural specific) so that I can quickly know if I will still get my favourite shows.
3. where can I find a professional to install it for me

Finally, assuming you don't have the budget to advertise the above three points to a wide audience, set up a referral program.  Pay me for everybody I send to you who switches to FTA.  If I'm having a great FTA experience, you can bet I will refer all my Facebook friends and real-life friends to your service.

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