The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » The future of local over the air TV

darcyh · April 13, 2024 11:51 am

At one time local TV seemed to have a promising future. Many separate stations produced their own content and some of this was shared on the network they were affiliated with. Many stations had substantial news departments. Local services and businesses advertised extensively on TV stations. Fast forward to today.

With internet streaming and many on demand services do smaller market stations in places like London, Windsor, Kitchener, Sudbury, Kingston etc. make any money? Do they even break even to cover their operating costs? I no longer see many local advertisers, mostly national brands / products. We have seen some stations turn off their distant repeaters like CKCO in Wiarton, Sarnia and CKNX in Wingham. Station operators say there are just not enough people receiving the off air signal to make the operation viable.

Many TV stations operate with high RF power levels that require a lot of electricity to feed the transmitters. The towers and transmitter site all require ongoing maintenance that costs money. Having an OTA signal used to get you guaranteed carriage on the lower channels of local cable systems, but that's not an advantage with today's digital TV boxes.

Like AM radio transmitter sites, TV stations have tower sites that occupy large parcels of land that may have appreciated in value. As video definition increases stations will need to upgrade their equipment to keep with the the standards; another expense. Increasing demands for the RF spectrum for wireless services is also a consideration as TV occupies a fairly large chunk of this. For viewers who wish to view the OTA signal there is the expense and hassle of installing an outdoor TV antenna if you are much further than 50 km from the station.

What do you think? Is there a future for over the air television.

Radiowiz · April 13, 2024 12:08 pm

darcyh wrote:
What do you think? Is there a future for over the air television.

Yes, but with a heavy load of product placement. Businesses will gladly pay to be part of a show in some creative way that makes their product look really good.

MJ Vancouver · April 13, 2024 12:41 pm

Some of these towers are also used for FM radio, so those towers wouldn’t go away even if TV was removed. Case in point - London, where CFPL-DT, CFPL-FM (FM96), CFHK-FM (Fresh 103.1), and CHST-FM (102.3) are all on the same tower. 103.1 only just moved there in the past few years.

Of course that didn’t stop CBC from shutting down TV transmitters that shared tower space with their radio stations, but those were all rebroadcast transmitters and not originating stations.

Last edited by MJ Vancouver (April 13, 2024 12:42 pm)

In Phase · April 13, 2024 1:06 pm

darcyh wrote:
What do you think? Is there a future for over the air television.

No

paterson1 · April 13, 2024 2:47 pm

Over the air local TV channels are becoming rare like AM radio. I think there will always be OTA TV but as we are seeing fewer of them and their programs less and less watched. The internet has ruined local media largely because the internet has become the local media in most ways.

Glen Warren · April 13, 2024 8:16 pm

In Phase wrote:
darcyh wrote:
What do you think? Is there a future for over the air television.

No

Well, that seems a little harsh ;-)

In Phase · April 13, 2024 9:09 pm

Glen Warren wrote:
In Phase wrote:
darcyh wrote:
What do you think? Is there a future for over the air television.

No

Well, that seems a little harsh ;-)

a simple question = a simple answer

The truth can be harsh my friend

Dave The OTA guy · April 13, 2024 9:32 pm

There's always plenty of discussion in here of Toronto TV stations but not much talk abkut CHCH. I watch them for news, daily (because they're the closest to my house) on the Canadian side of the border, I also watch WGRZ (2) in the AM and CITY (57) from 11 PM, but CHCH is doing what many other stations just don't do: give local businesses and affordable(?) place to advertise on TV. Sure, in Buffalo you'll see a handful of local ads, but do you really see any on and Bell or Rogers owned TV?

CHCH news director Greg O'Brien made a good point in one of their podcasts about being a station that doesn't have to answer to shareholders and only being focused on their broadcast area: Hamilton, Halton and Niagara. But are they profitable? I'd like to think so.

As with these radio stations that Bell sold off perhaps the same is true for local TV: Be more local. If I'm going to see local commercials I don't mind seeing a low budget ad supporting my local TV.

The perfect example is that really budget looking ad on Buffalo TV for Airport Plaza Jewelers. "Just look for the big red awning" --You see? It works...probably cost em $100 to make!

Radiowiz · April 13, 2024 10:40 pm

Dave The OTA guy wrote:
The perfect example is that really budget looking ad on Buffalo TV for Airport Plaza Jewelers. "Just look for the big red awning" --You see? It works...probably cost em $100 to make!

andysradio · April 14, 2024 8:18 am

Americans embrace OTA much more than Canadians. I think there are a few reasons for this:
-in most any given market, there is so much choice
-there is value add to receiving American stations with an antenna. They get all those sub channels and broadcasters have so much material to choose from.

It is not the same in Canada. OTA is treated like a necessary evil. Broadcasters have not embraced sub-channel broadcasting. Heck even with-in the same company, they do not use it to broadcast sister networks.

Broadcast facilities are getting up there in age. If one were to look at CTV, towers in Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury etc are some 60+ years old. To convert these to HD [they are still analog] would mean installing a new antenna to bring them in-band. That would mean replacing the tower. Will it happen. No. But CTV transmitters in Bobcaygeon and Severn Falls are relatively newer so they will stay for the time being.
As time moves on, more an more rural transmitters will close leaving OTA reception only in large centres.

Last edited by andysradio (April 14, 2024 10:00 am)

RadioActive · April 14, 2024 9:45 am

I'm probably alone on this, but I actually prefer OTA to cable. The picture is better, the choice (limited though it may be) is interesting and I like a lot of the recurring shows on the nets (including the Law & Orders and The Chicagos, among others.) And as another bonus - it's always free!

I can't speak for others but my OTA DVR (from Channel Master) works flawlessly and I always seem to have more waiting to watch than I ever actually have time to see. The sun may be setting on over-the-air TV (although recent surveys indicate there's still a lot of strength left in old fashioned television networks) but we're not in total darkness yet!

In Phase · April 14, 2024 10:50 am

RadioActive wrote:
I actually prefer OTA to cable. The picture is better....

This is open to debate. Picture "quality" to totally subjective and dependent on such things as screen size and viewing distance. Often, people will compare bit rates between OTA, satellite, cable/IPTV and streaming, and say one is better than the other. The reality is that bit rate is only one parameter. The real question is what compression system is being used.

In the case of ATSC 1.0 (the current OTA platform) that is MPEG2 which is a 25+ year old compression standard. Streaming platforms are using the latest compression systems which can provide higher "quality" at lower bit rates.

Also, most OTA broadcasters still originate in 1080i. The "i" meaning Interlace. Interlace meaning the old NTSC standard from the 1940's (yikes!) of interlacing TV lines on a CRT picture tube. Interlacing introduces artifacts in moving images.

Modern devices (like your phone, tablet and computer) use Progressive scanning and can handle much higher frame rates (images per second) for smoother images.

ATSC 3.0 will change this however it requires an expensive and wholesale change at the transmission and consumer end. I'm not sure if Law & Order is worth it.

andysradio · April 14, 2024 10:57 am

In Phase wrote:
ATSC 3.0 will change this

Except it is very unlikely you will see this in Canada

Jacjames · April 14, 2024 11:06 am

As long as Canadians produce shows (as now seen) OTA will disappear. The land where towers now stand may turn out to be better suited for housing!!

In Phase · April 14, 2024 11:11 am

andysradio wrote:
In Phase wrote:
ATSC 3.0 will change this

Except it is very unlikely you will see this in Canada

I think you are correct if it is simply replacing current infrastructure.

However we might see a flip to ATSC 3.0 in Canada if consumers have access to inexpensive ATSC 3 converters AND Canadian broadcasters push the CRTC to allow them to multiplex their services on a single ATSC 3.0 transmitter.

That would substantially reduce transmission cost and be a win for spectrum and broadcasters.

I still think it's DOA....

andysradio · April 14, 2024 12:13 pm

In Phase wrote:
push the CRTC to allow them to multiplex

The CRTC is not blocking multiplexing. Global is doing it in Kingston and Peterborough

In Phase · April 14, 2024 12:56 pm

andysradio wrote:
In Phase wrote:
push the CRTC to allow them to multiplex

The CRTC is not blocking multiplexing. Global is doing it in Kingston and Peterborough

Yes, of course. The CRTC has never blocked multiplexing. Historically the programming was to be "unique"

The difference would be to allow broadcasters to multiplex their signals together

CBC, Rogers, Corus, Bell together on one ATSC3 transmitter, possibly owned by a third party (such as Master TV, Inc.)

It might require a couple of TX's in markets such as Toronto or Mt. Seymour in Vancouver, but it could be quite efficient in smaller markets

This would move transmission off the backs of many broadcasters and make it purely an operational expense, something the bean counters might like

betaylored · April 14, 2024 1:34 pm

there's something to be said for "regular" television that you don't get with a streaming service: the joy of flipping around the channels on a Sunday afternoon, discovering a favorite movie like Jaws, The Untouchables or Aliens has just started, which of course inspires you to immediately forget about everything you had planned to do, and drop into the sofa to watch said movie...

RadioActive · April 14, 2024 1:42 pm

Also worth noting - if your connection goes down, you can still watch TV .

MJ Vancouver · April 14, 2024 5:27 pm

andysradio wrote:
In Phase wrote:
push the CRTC to allow them to multiplex

The CRTC is not blocking multiplexing. Global is doing it in Kingston and Peterborough

And CFTV in Leamington has 4 subchannels.

MJ Vancouver · April 14, 2024 5:31 pm

Dave The OTA guy wrote:
There's always plenty of discussion in here of Toronto TV stations but not much talk abkut CHCH. I watch them for news, daily (because they're the closest to my house) on the Canadian side of the border, I also watch WGRZ (2) in the AM and CITY (57) from 11 PM, but CHCH is doing what many other stations just don't do: give local businesses and affordable(?) place to advertise on TV. Sure, in Buffalo you'll see a handful of local ads, but do you really see any on and Bell or Rogers owned TV?

CHCH news director Greg O'Brien made a good point in one of their podcasts about being a station that doesn't have to answer to shareholders and only being focused on their broadcast area: Hamilton, Halton and Niagara. But are they profitable? I'd like to think so.

As with these radio stations that Bell sold off perhaps the same is true for local TV: Be more local. If I'm going to see local commercials I don't mind seeing a low budget ad supporting my local TV.

The perfect example is that really budget looking ad on Buffalo TV for Airport Plaza Jewelers. "Just look for the big red awning" --You see? It works...probably cost em $100 to make!

CHEK in Victoria, though obviously not in Southern Ontario, is another one that has been able to remain successful as an independent, and employee-owned. They produce some of their own non-news programming and even have a 2-hour Vancouver-oriented sports show every weekday morning - and they attract high profile guests like Sportsnet and TSN personalities. They are also one of the only television stations in Canada to have their own app to allow for live streaming of all local news - something that is commonplace in the US but not in Canada.

The Victoria-Vancouver market is quite a bit smaller than the Toronto-Hamilton market, so CHEK is proof that you don’t need a market of 6+ million to have successful local TV.

Last edited by MJ Vancouver (April 14, 2024 5:32 pm)

mace · April 15, 2024 12:24 pm

Radiowiz wrote:
Dave The OTA guy wrote:
The perfect example is that really budget looking ad on Buffalo TV for Airport Plaza Jewelers. "Just look for the big red awning" --You see? It works...probably cost em $100 to make!

These ads run regularly on WNYO ch 49.