http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/pick-and-pay-cable-should-be-an-option-in-canada-says-crtc-1.2743406
CRTC is put a plan on the table to possible allow TV stations to cease their OTA transmitters.
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At the same time, the regulator proposes allowing local TV stations to shut down their transmitters — a move that might not sit well with consumers who prefer to get their TV programming over the air.
"It's an idea that we want to explore," said Blais, who stressed that the proposal is open for debate.
Roughly eight per cent of Canadian TV viewers get their content using antennas, without paying a service provider to deliver programming."
Will be following this very closely.
Cheers, K
FYI, the CBC wants this too. The CRTC will have their "Let's Talk TV" public hearing in September. The CBC was required to submit comments on the whole Canadian TV system to the CRTC and the comments are on their corporate website in a PDF file for everyone to see.
http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/_files/cbcrc/documents/submissions/policy-review.pdf
I find their comments on the future of OTA distribution the most interesting and disturbing:
The Future of OTA Distribution
33. Given the costs of transmission and the availability and prevalence of BDU delivery, OTA transmission is no longer a cost efficient way of delivering programming in many locations and should no longer be a pre-requisite for the general licensed operation of conventional television stations in Canada. As the Commission has noted in BNC CRTC 2014-190, OTA viewing is now very low: in fact nationally it is only 5%, according to the latest Media Technology Monitor (MTM, Spring 2014). This is therefore neither an efficient nor a popular delivery mechanism. Yet delivery by over-the-air technology continues to define the licensing of conventional television broadcasters, and to define, through the operation of the Copyright Act, the financing that is available to these undertakings.
34. A far more efficient delivery mechanism (i.e. direct feeds to BDUs) is widely available and in use in practically all markets within Canada.
35.
Given these realities, the Corporation submits that the current licensing regime for conventional television should be modified to permit conventional television broadcasters to operate without relying on OTA transmission, if they so choose. Specifically, a licensed conventional television service would be subject to the same regulatory obligations and serve the same geographic areas as are currently applicable but would not be required to operate an OTA transmitter in order to retain its licence. Any applicants for a new licence to serve a market would be required to define a proposed geographic service area (e.g. a municipal boundary) which would be subject to scrutiny by the Commission.
Financing Local Television
36 CBC/Radio-Canada has three proposals regarding the financing of local television services.
37
First, as noted above, with the elimination of the requirement of OTA transmission for the licensing of conventional broadcasters, those conventional television stations that chose not to operate OTA transmission systems would no longer come within section 31 of the Copyright Act. This means they would be entitled to affiliation fees from BDUs on the same legal basis as other licensed services.
38
The Commission should support this legal reality by ensuring that these stations enjoy the same regulatory protections as other licensed services in respect of negotiations with BDUs. This approach would improve the business model of conventional television broadcasters by giving them access to affiliation fees, and in turn, help these broadcasters finance their Canadian programming obligations.
39 Second, given the specific and unique financial challenges facing conventional television stations in the offering of local television programming, and the high importance Canadians place on local television news, it is essential that a new funding mechanism be created to support local news programming.
So basically, the CBC wants to make OTA broadcasting optional instead of a requirement and they want to start collecting affiliation fees from the TV providers which would cause cable prices to go higher.
