CBC Will Not Abandon Canadians Who Receive Television Over-the-air

     John Agnew, Director of Radio and Television, CBC North

Let me assure readers: CBC/Radio-Canada is not abandoning Canadians. Anyone
who currently receives television over-the-air will continue to receive that
service into the foreseeable future.

About 30 years ago, the federal government provided funding to
CBC/Radio-Canada to extend its over-the-air transmission of television and
radio to smaller communities. The 670-television-transmitter system
currently gets CBC/Radio-Canada's over-the-air television signals to 98 per
cent of the population coast to coast to coast.

A transmitter has a lifespan of approximately 30 years. We are now faced
with having to replace our aging infrastructure. CBC/Radio-Canada's
responsibility is to balance reaching as many Canadians as possible with a
responsible use of our resources. It would cost nearly $400 million to
replace the ailing analogue television system with a digital system. As
well, as the world moves to HD/digital transmission, we need to consider
replacing analogue towers with digital ones.

Last fall, we put forward a hybrid approach for digital/HD television to the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) where we
would implement 44 over-the-air digital transmitters that would reach 80 per
cent of the Canadian population. This system would cost a quarter of the
cost of replacing the analogue system.

The vast majority of the remaining Canadians today subscribe to cable or
satellite television services, and if the trend continues, that proportion
will only grow.

We are in no way suggesting that those Canadians who are outside our hybrid
coverage and who continue to rely on over-the-air should simply be left
without access. We have recommended that the CRTC examine possible solutions
for those Canadians.

One alternative to over-the-air television, as the letter writer pointed
out, is deriving content from the Internet. CBC.ca and Radio-Canada.ca
remain among the country's top news and information websites and are places
Canadians turn to for breaking news.

They are also places Canadians go for podcasts of radio programs, and soon
many of our television programs will be available as well.

For the record, CBC/Radio-Canada has a 25 per cent ownership stake in Sirius
Canada, which delivers many of our radio services, such as Radio One and
Radio 3. At this stage, what is being envisaged is the delivery of video
content to the car, such as movies. Sirius could not be a substitute for the
delivery of CBC Television signals.

We are waiting to hear from the CRTC with regards to our proposal. In the
meantime, analogue transmitters will remain in service.

John Agnew
Director of Radio and Television, CBC North