Source : Vancouver Sun

Global has digital licences for three Canadian stations

Vancouver television station BCTV has joined the digital revolution.

On Thursday, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) granted digital television licences to CHAN-TV, the official call letters of BCTV, and CHCH-TV in Hamilton.

This means that Global Television now has digital licences for three of its 16 Canadian stations. Global Ontario was the first to go digital.

"This is part of the transition of the industry from an analog technology to a digital technology," said John Medline, director of regulatory affairs for Global Television Network. "This is going to be a creeping pattern across the country."

BCTV will continue to broadcast with analog technology even when it adds its digital signal. It has not been determined what channel BCTV will use for its digital signal.

Medline said that, eventually, he expects all Global stations to have digital capabilities.

"That's way down the line. I don't have a timetable for the other stations," he said.

Programming at BCTV's analog and digital stations will be identical, although the digital station is allowed 14 hours per week of unduplicated programming. At least seven hours of that has to be Canadian high-definition programming.

The digital signal allows for more interactive programming, as well as providing a clearer picture and better sound.

One advantage to a conventional signal is it allows for simulcasts, meaning that when BCTV picks up an American show, viewers will get the Canadian signal, with Canadian commercials on the breaks.

© The Vancouver Sun