Free CRT TV of the Month, Montréal edition (Feb. 2012)

Dear Minister Moore,

Spotted this beauty on Saint-Denis in Montréal on Saturday night.

It was -19 below out but my dinner date kindly paused so I could take a shot of this JVC.

Might still be there if you can get to Saint-Denis/Rachel.

Best,

Steven

Double Post: #DTV2011 in 2012 + Free CRT TV of the Month (January, 2012)

Photo Credit: Felan Parker

Dear Minister Moore,

Happy New Year.

This month’s Free CRT TV photo, the first for 2012, was taken by Felan Parker near Toronto’s Manning and Barton neighbourhood.  Looks to be a 10 inch or so portable set. B&W, perhaps? I’ve never seen the dual VHF antenna set up before. The handle is sweet. They should have those for bigger TVs too.

Thanks largely to the Government of Canada, 2012 will be the year that the spectrum hits the OTA TV  fan in Canada. While Jennifer Ditchburn may have found Phase I of Canada’s digital television transition in 2011 to be “anti-climatic”, 2012 should bring the drama for those who are looking for it.

August 31, 2012 is CBC/Radio-Canada’s extended deadline to shut-off its analogue television broadcasts in mandatory digital markets. The public broadcaster has already said that it won’t meet this second deadline (the first for broadcasters in Canada was August, 31, 2011 but CBC/Radio-Canada received a one year extension). Since I can’t see the Feds giving CBC/Radio-Canada a third deadline to switch to digital in mandatory markets, things could get messy if the public broadcaster does not throw the switch in all mandatory markets by August 31.  On the other hand, as we’ve seen in rural communities like Denbigh, Ontario, even if CBC/Radio-Canada does somehow meet its 2012 analogue shut-off deadline, communities outside of mandatory digital TV markets that have been relying on “analogue drift” from bigger cities for the past 50 years will suddenly be without CBC-TV or Radio-Canada once the analogue signals are shut off. Either way, there will indeed be DTV drama related to the public broadcaster in 2012.

In addition, the CRTC’s faith in Shaw’s Local Television Satellite Solution (LTSS) program as a solution for OTA TV viewers who lose any signals due to the digital switch will also be put to the test in 2012.  Shaw received extra time from the CRTC to hand out free satellite dishes, free hook-ups and free basic channels to Canadians who have lost OTA TV signals. Turns out that Shaw was too stingy with its eligibility requirements and didn’t hand out enough sat packages to satisfy its promised benefit package. Shaw now has until November 30, 2012 to wrap up the LTSS.

It will be interesting to see if Shaw manages to hit their Global TV benefits quota via the LTSS or if they will once again ask the CRTC to tweak the terms. CRTC Chairman, Konrad von Finckenstein, had previously cited the LTSS as a comprehensive fix for any Canadians negatively impacted by the digital television transition.  Unfortunately, in terms of a national program to provide all Canadians with access to television signals, the LTSS may come to simply represent a LOSS.

Best,

Steven

p.s. Since 2011 was such a big year for OTA TV in Canada, I’m sticking with the #DTV2011 hashtag for OTA related discussions in 2012 and beyond.

Free CRT TV of the Month (December, 2011)

Dear Minister Moore,

Now here is a beauty of a CRT TV.

Remember when TVs were furniture?

This 27 inch RCA has it all.

Fake wood.

Metal drawer handles for a non-existent drawer.

A base so it can sit right on your (carpeted) floor.

So sweet!

This must be one of the last cabinet-style TVs made. You can tell by the digital channel display in the top right hand corner (instead of dials).

I don’t really understand the vertical fake wood lattice to the left of the screen.

The speaker vent is to the right of the TV, under the channel display.

What’s with the wood lattice to the left?

It looks like a mini confession booth.

Best,

Steven

 

 

Last Channel Standing, Part 2

Source: shaw.ca

Dear Minister Moore,

I hope this finds you well. Enjoyed your Nickelback tweets yesterday.

Writing to follow up my October 17, 2011 blog post that detailed how the number of over-the-air (OTA) television channels in the community of Denbigh, Ontario was reduced from five to just one following Canada’s August 31, 2011 digital television transition.

Based on this significant loss of OTA television signals, I was confident that residents of the area would be eligible for the free satellite dish, hook up and basic service offer from Shaw Direct.

This little-known offer from Shaw, which expires “before” Nov 30, 2011, is officially titled the Local Television Satellite Solution (LTSS) program. The program was proposed by Shaw as part of its benefits package associated with its request to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to buy Global TV. The CRTC took the bait and a decision outlining Shaw’s purchase of Global TV from CanWest Global was announced in October, 2010.

Eight months later, at the Banff World Media Festival, CRTC Chairman Konrad von Finckenstein urged Shaw to start advertising the offer so that eligible viewers could “take advantage of it”.

Shaw did eventually post information online about the offer (at the bottom of a hard to find shaw.ca page) but I’m not aware of any other promotion of the limited time offer.

Getting back to the case of OTA TV signal loss in Denbigh, Ontario, I did indeed end up calling Shaw’s LTSS toll free phone number (1.888.782.7602) to ask about a free dish.

I was asked for the postal code for the area I was calling about. No other questions.

After a few seconds I was told that sorry, no free dish was available for that area.

When I asked why this was the case I was told that the postal code wasn’t “on the list”.

I asked about this “list” and how it was arrived at. No answer was given.

There’s my story.

What about you? Have you tried to obtain a free dish from Shaw? Please let me know.

Also, if you haven’t tried yet, hurry up since the offer expires in less than 2 days.

Looks like I’ll have to write a Part 3 to this post…

Steven

Free CRT TV of the Month (November, 2011)

Dear Minister Moore,

Spotted this CRT TV in a Toronto alley yesterday.

Might be of interest to someone who lives in a rural or remote area of Canada that still has OTA analogue TV.

Otherwise, it isn’t really worth carrying home.

Best,

Steven

Last Channel Standing

Hi Minister Moore,

After waiting almost seven weeks for Canadian television broadcasters to work out the kinks in their digital transmitters, I’m writing to advise that Global TV is the last OTA channel standing in Denbigh, Ontario.

No other OTA signals have been available in the area since the August 31, 2011 shut-off of analogue television signals in mandatory digital markets.

Turns out that the analogue OTA CBC, Radio-Canada and CTV signals that Denbigh had been receiving from Ottawa for decades weren’t even supposed to reach that far. That’s what the digitaltv.gc.ca call centre woman at Canadian Heritage told me anyway. She advised that the signal maps that she googled to help answer my question showed that analogue CBC, Radio-Canada and CTV television signals were never available in Denbigh. I told her that I had been watching them OTA in Denbigh my entire life.

Here’s the current OTA DTV transition report for Denbigh:

• OTA TV stations available prior to DTV transition: CBC, Radio-Canada, CTV, TVO and Global.
• OTA TV stations available after DTV transition: Global.

It’s pretty clear then that residents in Denbigh should be able to receive a free dish, hook up and basic channels from Shaw, right? Wrong. I’ll explain in my next post.

Best,

Steven

Free CRT TV of the Month (September, 2011)

Dear Minister Moore,

Long time, no blog.

I will bring you up to speed on the Dude TV documentary soon.  Lots to discuss.

This free CRT TV will have to do for now.

Best,

Steven

p.s. You’ll need a DTV converter box to pull in OTA signals within mandatory digital markets.