1 of 1- RadioActive
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Does U.S. Cable Practice “Reverse Simsub” On Canadian Stations?
Do American cable stations practice a kind of reverse simsub on Canadian stations?
It’s something I never thought about until I read Alan Pergament’s piece in The Buffalo News that wondered why Buffalo viewers who subscribe to the giant cabler Spectrum weren’t able to watch the Tragically Hip documentary shown on CTV last week.
You can read the story here, but what caught my attention is something called "standing non-duplication." According to the article, “a "standing non-duplication for the time period" means Spectrum runs paid programming there because the same shows are on Buffalo affiliates.”
Does this mean what it appears to mean? Are cable companies near border areas forced to substitute alternate programming on Canadian feeds when U.S. stations are showing the same thing? And does that mean if CTV and WIVB are both showing, say “The Big Bang Theory” that those turning into CFTO will see something else instead? While we simply substitute the U.S. signal for the Canadian one, do they actually offer alternate programming in that time slot? If so, what kind?
And what happens on those odd occasions when the Canuck outlet is airing something that’s not simulcast in a different time slot?
While I understand the reasons for it, I’ve always hated simsub because it takes away my right to choose which station I watch something on. It’s the main reason I put up an antenna tower on my house. I just always thought we were the only ones suffering from this affliction.
If a Buffalo cable subscriber is reading this, I’d be very interested to know if this is what happens down there and how far it goes.
- Don
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Re: Does U.S. Cable Practice “Reverse Simsub” On Canadian Stations?
Not only that, but US cable and satellite companies can carry only one version of each network, the local affiliate. No 15 NBCs from all over the place like we get here with CTV, etc.
The rights protections in the US are far more strict than here.
- RadioActive
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Re: Does U.S. Cable Practice “Reverse Simsub” On Canadian Stations?
I was actually aware of that. Many years ago, the NAB lobbied to prevent intrusions from other affiliates into local markets to protect the TV stations there.
I had a friend who used to do grey market dish watching (he paid for a U.S. subscription, as opposed to stealing the signal.) In order to get the west coast U.S. feeds, he had to get another satellite dish and another American address, essentially paying a double bill every month. He insisted it was worth it, but you have to wonder.
In addition, the U.S. system forces distributors like cable to pay to carry stations. Over the years, it's meant certain station ownership groups would pull their signals from various markets when they couldn't come to an agreement about how much to pay. And coincidence of coincidence - it was almost always CBS that was affected and it almost always happened just before their showing of the Super Bowl.
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Thread Starter- Peter the K
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Re: Does U.S. Cable Practice “Reverse Simsub” On Canadian Stations?
I remember a number of years ago when A&E was scheduled to broadcast Monty Python and the Holy Grail. When the appointed moment came, a different program was substituted. Apparently, CITY owned the Canadian rights and prevented it being aired on A&E.
But yeah, a lot of Canadians don't realize just how much "freedom" we have actually have.
Having played with U.S. dish systems years ago, I was amazed how technologically difficult the satellite companies made it to get out of market local channels, even going to the lengths of implementing "spot beams" basically making it impossible to get signals from elsewhere in the U.S. from where you were physically located. If you had a trailer or motorhome, you could jump through some hoops, including getting permission from your "local" affiliates, and get special permission to be able to receive "local" out of market signals when you travelled.
- cGrant
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Re: Does U.S. Cable Practice “Reverse Simsub” On Canadian Stations?
Peter the K wrote:
a lot of Canadians don't realize just how much "freedom" we have actually have.
Partly. Perhaps. But, I still don't consider sim-sub as true freedom.
- Radiowiz
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Re: Does U.S. Cable Practice “Reverse Simsub” On Canadian Stations?
A good 15 years ago, the Canadian channel would simply go to a blue text screen that reads "This program is available on channel x" (x is the American channel)
If they've resorted to infomercials, then god help them!
Those paying for the infomercial will benefit well if the programming is a repeat anyway. 
RadioWiz & RadioQuiz are NOT the same person.
RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.
- mace
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Re: Does U.S. Cable Practice “Reverse Simsub” On Canadian Stations?
Simsubbing happens to Canadian stations on our side of the border as well. When CHEX was a CBC affiliate, CBLT's signal was used on both channels when there was no local Peterboro programming being aired. Same thing with CFTO and CKCO.