BANFF, Alta - The Canadian TV industry faces a crisis if long-overdue preparations for the switch to digital TV don't begin soon, the head of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission said Monday in a strongly worded speech.
"My great concern is that the industry will not be ready," CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein told a breakfast gathering of producers, broadcasters and content creators at the Banff World Television Festival.
"There will be requests for delays, we will have a crisis on our hands. It must not be allowed to happen."
The federal government wants digital signals to be converted from analog in August 2011, but Finckenstein suggested a trial run begin as early as April 2011 in Winnipeg and Quebec City to work out any possible problems.
He pointed to the painful transition south of the border in June 2009, when the U.S. government made the switch after a delay. More than US$1.5 billion was spent on subsidies to help consumers pay for converter boxes to receive the new signals.
Finckenstein urged cable and satellite providers to mount a widespread consumer education campaign in Canada. He also pressed the federal government to come up with a fund to help consumers pay for the added costs that may arise.
He warned of a widespread backlash if people who currently pay nothing for TV are suddenly forced to invest in cable or satellite signals.
"Clearly, it's politically untenable to say you have no choice, you have to go to satellite," said Finckenstein.
An estimated 900,000 Canadian households that rely on antennas don't have televisions equipped to receive new digital signals. About another 44,000 won't have access to TV content at all unless they invest in a satellite dish.
Finckenstein said the scope of the undertaking must not be underestimated.
"Everything so far has been guesswork. I hope as a result of this we get more (clarity) on it."
