The U.S. has successfully completed its digital TV transition, but here in Canada, we have until August 31, 2011 before all analog TV signals are transitioned to digital. But already, residents in some small cities are crying "unfair" that they will be no longer be able to access free, over-the-air (OTA) TV signals.

Vector Research + Development conducted a poll in Kamloops, BC, and found that all who risk losing their "free" TV will simply go without rather than sign up for cable or satellite; and 42% say they'll just watch TV on the Internet. The poll was commissioned by the Canadian Media Guild (CMG), which represents employees at Canadian broadcasters.

The Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)'s ruling requires that, as of August 31, 2011, broadcasters provider OTA signals in 29 major cities. Kamloops is one of the cities that would be excluded from that list, and Vector says the city is "representative of hundreds of communities across Canada" that would also be excluded. According to Vector, 11 million Canadians living outside of the biggest cities in Canada would be affected in their ability to successfully access TV for free, over-the-air.

"This poll confirms that people don't think the two-tier approach to television service is fair," says Lise Lareau, National President of the CMG. "How can we simply accept a plan that hands free TV service to big-city Canadians and cuts off everyone else?"

Currently, 6% of Kamloops residents access three channels using "rabbit ears" or an antenna; but these three channels will likely be inaccessible come 2011.

"The shut-down of free, over-the-air TV in hundreds of communities is being treated like a state secret," claims Lareau. "Very few people in the industry want to talk about over-the-air TV, and the government has been silent."

What's more, the study claims that these "free" viewers are the ones who are most faithful to local Canadian programming. In Kamloops, 62% of OTA viewers say they most often watch Canadian fare versus just 27% of cable viewers and 23% of satellite. (In fairness, however, subscribers of the latter two services obviously have much more choice, which would logically dilute the amount of Canadian programming they view).

If Kamloops is any indication, awareness of how the transition will affect OTA signals in some Canadian regions is not widespread just yet: the majority of residents of that province report knowing little or nothing about it. Still, we have two more years to go!

Once the DTV transition occurs in Canada, the situation will be the same as in the U.S.: owners of analog TVs will need to purchase a set-top box converter, and those receiving OTA signals will need a digital-to-analog converter box. Unfortunately, there is no plan to offer coupons to use toward the purchase of a converter box, as was done in the U.S. However, the CRTC notes that if you purchase (or rent) the box through a cable or satellite provider, that company will "manage the transition for you".

While the CMG's position is understandable, no one should expect "free" content. But on the other hand, if residents of certain cities will continue to be able to rabbit ear their TV content, why not all? Is it fair to ask customers who only want to view five or six channels to pay hefty monthly fees to do so? Still, one could argue that many subscribers to cable and satellite TV only watch a handful of channels themselves. I, for one, catch most of my programming on about that many networks, yet I still pay for hundreds and hundreds of channels. Perhaps the answer is a very, very entry-level cable/satellite subscriber package that would allow customers to choose up to five or six channels for a nominal fee. While it still doesn't spell "free", it can spell fair.

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