A Look at the Canadian "Public Service” TV Announcements of the Digital Transition

But who exactly are they really serving?

Despite the unfortunate media apathy around the digital transition, chances are you’ve at least started to see spots on the major networks about the upcoming analog Armageddon. These so-called public service announcements are to inform OTA TV viewers of the pening changes.

In all honesty, I like public service announcements. They let you know what’s happening, for what reason and what to do if it affects you. For example, a recent PSA in the local newspaper described some changes by the city water works in my area. In the humble opinion of your Average Joe here, it had all the key elements essential to a clear and concise public service announcement. It stated that our water main was being replaced on a certain date (notification) in order to improve water pressure in our area and replace the aging pipes (reason), thus reducing the risk of a break and to update to the latest materials (benefit). It told us to expect no water service for a period of time (information) and to run the taps once the water was back on (action).

That, my friends, is the form that I would normally expect from a PSA: tell people what’s happening, when it's happening, why it’s happening, how it affects them, and last but not least what they need to know and do about it.

When I finally saw the PSA’s from the three largest national networks concerning the DTV transition, I was disappointed with what I found.

While all three networks notified viewers of the change, there was no talk of the reason for the change and the benefits from it. Without reasons or benefits, changes are sometimes perceived as a burden. Someone who has no idea why the digital transition is being done could easily be confused, even think that they are being suckered into paying for a converter box to compensate for something the broadcaster is doing or the government is imposing on them.

Why not give the reason and the benefits? People can keep their analog TVs and benefit from the more robust signal and new on-screen program info. Owners of HDTVs can look forward to this as well and the availability of HD programming and new functionalities with modern day devices such as TiVos and DVRs.

Second, I was appalled to see the blatant advertising going on – suggesting subscription to a satellite or cable service as a way to prepare for the digital transition. True, technically this is an option as the DTV transition is transparent to pay subscribers, but this is like bringing your car into the garage to have the radio antenna fixed and the guy suggests signing up to satellite radio instead. It's an obvious attempt to upsell, not to help you with the issue at hand. The CTV and Global PSAs go one step further by actually advertising the pay TV services provided by their parent companies on both the TV spot, the 1-8XX number and the website. All this in a so-called public service announcement? Not impressed at all.

Call the toll free numbers or visit the website and the advertising for pay TV services is always there.

Kudos though on CBC for at least specifying that a converter box is easy to install and affordable. Of course, CTV referred their viewers to their parent company’s retail chain to buy the converter box.

Have a look at the following TV spots (barely considered as PSAs in my opinion) from the three major networks. Can you spot the blatant advertising and lack of info?

Global TV:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcb8u9thpq0

CTV:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shVnHUcYs68

CBC:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7B0SMzjdx8

So remember that example of the PSA I gave about the water works at the beginning of this post? Well, this is like a PSA that tells you they are digging everything up to change the water pipe, but hey, why are you drinking tap water? If you drank bottled water you wouldn’t be affected and by the way Perrier is on sale at Loblaws. Oh yeah and you may want to run the taps or something if you really want to go back to drinking tap water when we’re done.


Well then Average Joe, if you’re so smart, why don’t you make a PSA that’s better than the network ones?

After fuming over the lack of info and the almost deliberate hood-winking of consumers from these PSAs, I decided to make my own! Here is a sample PSA put together by myself in the span of about 30 minutes with my crude computer and graphic skills. The entire PSA would run for less than a minute, which seems reasonable considering the analog transition is about a month away. Here are the screen captures with the captions just below.

If you receive your TV programming “over the air” via an exterior or rabbit ear antenna, this message applies to you.

Your current analog broadcast service is being upgraded to digital television (DTV). Industry Canada has mandated Canadian over-the-air broadcasters to cease analog broadcasts effective September 1st, 2011.

This change is necessary in order for you to enjoy the full potential of modern-day HDTV technology via your antenna TV, including

- 1080i HD picture and 5.1 surround sound
- Easier and improved antenna reception
- On-screen program info and guides
- Compatibility with modern devices such as PVR / DVRs

As well as the potential for future digital programming options and features

To ensure you are ready to receive the new DTV signal, check your current TV for a digital tuner. If you have purchased a new TV in Canada within the past 3 years your TV will most likely already be DTV compatible. To check your equipment for compatibility, look for the DTV logo on your TV or on documentation provided with your TV.

If your TV is not DTV capable, you will need to install a digital-to-analog converter box by September 1st. These boxes are easy to install and can be purchased inexpensively from most local electronics or hardware stores.

On September 1st, be prepared for the new and bright future of over-the-air digital television! If you subscribe to pay TV services such as cable, satellite, or TV-over-internet, you will not be affected by these changes.

Conclusion

OK, so it’s clear we can’t rely on the big networks to help us navigate through the digital transition. But surely the retail market is willing to help us out, right? YOUR Average Joe is going undercover on the next installment of Revenge of the Rabbit Ears so be sure to check back soon and see what we find!

Revenge of the Rabbit Ears – OTA Setups

It’s not Just About Going With an Antenna Only

Your Average Joe has been giving the details of what the new digital transition can mean for the Canadian coach potato. But how can an OTA setup fit into the plans of the averahe TV viewer? Well, OTA setups can be your sole source of TV entertainment or just a free “bonus” part of your TV system setup. Here are some of the most popular scenarios your Average Joe has seen out there and would like to share with you:

Existing OTA setups: Time to take a closer look

Did you know that as of today as much as 16% of Canadian television watchers don’t subscribe to pay TV? That is almost 1 out of every 5 TV viewers across the country. Right now, these people are most likley laughing. Day by day up until the August 31st cutover, the analog stations they receive via the airwaves are transitioning to digital. Their television sets and existing antenna setups are pulling in 1080i signals without any (or minimal) upgrade costs.

Perhaps you moved into a house that has an old antenna installed in the attic, or maybe you have a tower in the backyard that you disconnected a long time ago. It may be time to connect it up again and see what rolls in from the airwaves - you may be surprised!


The Cord Cutters: People that cancel their pay TV and go 100% OTA

Some people just can’t justify the cost of monthly fees for television service. Sure, certain TV watchers do it out of principle – they are fed up with handing over their hard-earned money to the big cable and satellite companies, tired of the barely justified “HD fees”, the rate hikes, the blackouts, the local TV taxes and cost of receiver rentals. Others would just rather save money that they can spend elsewhere. However for many it’s not just a finance thing - they just don’t watch enough TV to justify paying for it. More and more people now spend time in front of their computers instead of the TV. There are also people that are active and never at home. Families with young children who have a million other things to do in their spare time also fall into this category.

For these types of people the best TV is the free kind. An OTA setup with the major digital channels is perfect for them.


Analog Cable Subscribers: The best of both worlds

For analog cable subscribers they can have the best of both worlds. Analog cable has as a main benefit that it is still relatively cost-effective. The channel selection is extensive and no special receivers are required. Also, cable subscribers are not affected by the digital transition. The only drawback – analog cable is low definition.

What I’ve seen is a growing number of people adding an OTA setup to complement their analog cable. These people enjoy the wide selection of channels while having the option to watch certain shows off the HD feed coming in over their antenna.



Who said you can't have both? Analog cable subscribers can keep enjoying the channel selection and low price of their current service and switch when desired to an antenna setup to, for example, watch the HD feeds of hockey games on OTA networks such as CBC or NBC.

Stuck in the Past: Does it make sense to upgrade all that equipment?

Some cable or satellite subscribers are experiencing HD envy. They got on board the subscription TV train years ago, but now those standard definition boxes just don’t cut it anymore. But how much will it cost to upgrade? Existing customers rarely have bargaining power, and by the time they’ve bought all new receivers for their TVs, upgraded those cable boxes / satellite dishes / switches and then signed their lives away for HD packages, they may find themselves with a lot less clinking in the ol’piggy bank.

For those people, a cost-effective solution is to add an OTA setup to complement their existing system and bring in those crisp pictures without upgrading their equipment and downgrading their bank accounts.


Satellite Subscribers: Add on for free and scale back on the pay stuff

Satellite subscribers are usually stuck selecting package deals, often having to pay more to have HD channels. What most don’t know is that their satellite receivers are most likely already OTA ready, but no one told them!

Yes that’s right – it may be time to flip back through that never-opened user guide and see if your box will accept an OTA coax feed as well as the satellite feed. You probably don’t even know about it but could be watching or PVRing HD shows from your antenna right there with your satellite programs, all with the same guide and remote. And if these channels duplicate the channels you’re paying extra for, why not cut back and save some money at the same time?

Still not sure if your receiver can support DTV? Simply call your satellite subscriber’s technical support, provide your receiver model number and see how you can activate the OTA feature.


It was there all along?? This PVR satellite box from the “Blue” satellite company has an extra coax connector and an option in the menu to access local channels from an OTA antenna setup, it was just never activated. Once setup, the OTA channels appear in the program guide and can be treated in the same way as the programming coming from the satellite feed.

Welcome to the 21st Century – Internet and free OTA

A growing number of people are longer watching their TV through the… um… TV. More and more Canadians watch their movies via a PS3 and Netflix, others stream TV shows directly from a laptop to their screen. DVD collections have been transferred to terabyte sized hard drives. More and more viewers are downloading their shows from online retailers so they can watch without interruption and pesky commercials. In the end, pay TV is starting to look less attractive, especially since an increasing number of people are finding it more cost-effective to cancel pay TV and spend the money on internet packages with faster speeds and larger bandwidth quotas.

An OTA setup is the perfect system to compliment these types of internet TV setups. A reasonable antenna can easily add the major networks in stunning HD quality, giving easy access to live TV, local news and extra content – all without the monthly fees.


Ready for a Piece of the Action?

OK, so you’re sold. Average Joe has opened your eyes, you’ve read these posts the past few months and you’re ready to jump on board. But before you do – you have one nagging question – if OTA is so great, why haven’t you heard about it?

And that is one heck of a good question.


Next episode: Why is all the publicity concerning DTV OTA mysteriously MIA?

Average Joe is Back!

Ladies and gents, boys and girls, kitties and doggies - YOUR Average Joe is back and ready to roll!

After welcoming a new member to the Average Joe family, I'm finally back with some free time and once again I’m ready to share my findings on new products, raise the flags on bad deals and talk about plenty of other great stuff. As a special treat I'll be starting the year with a recurring segment to shed a bit of light on something that I believe can affect anyone and everyone: television.

Feel like you've put too much of your money in the pockets of the cable / satellite companies? Have you spent your cents on those questionable "special" boxes and dishes, only to be left in the dark? Computers and downloading got you scratching your head and watching your shows on a tiny monitor instead of the big screen in the man cave? Well, then you don’t want to miss this.

I'll be dedicating most of the year to shedding the light on a great and economical alternative/complimentary service. Oh, did I mention that not only is it 100% legal, it's actually regulated by the government? Best part is: you probably have the ability to use it now anyways ... and just don't know about it!

Stay tuned (no pun intended) ...