For a great many Canadians, over-the-air CBC hasn’t been available for ages, yet the recent hysteria over Hockey Night in Canada signing off the public airwaves reveals a classic Canadian unthinkingness. The show hasn't been produced by CBC since 2014, and only five per cent of CBC viewers watched over the air in 2012.
The Facts Behind the Nostalgia
CBC hasn't produced Hockey Night since 2014; it simply plugged into Sportsnet’s broadcast. Few have noted that very few CBC viewers watch over the air—only five per cent, according to CBC when last reported in 2012. The case for alarm rests on one supposedly empirical change: Hockey Night will no longer be “free.”
“A fundamental betrayal of what CBC is supposed to be,” wrote one columnist. “Sacrilegious,” said the New York Times. “A major shock… very detrimental to Canadian culture,” one observer told CBC News. “The CBC’s loss… ought to impel us to ask what we want and expect not just from our national broadcaster but from our country,” ruminates a Walrus contributor.
Limited Over-the-Air Access
In 2007, the CRTC ordered the phasing out of analog television broadcasting, requiring broadcasters to switch to digital over-the-air signals. However, CBC didn’t replace all of its coverage nationwide. “We had 620 analog TV transmitters and we simply couldn’t afford to replicate that infrastructure,” CBC explained. “It was also clear that to do so wasn’t a good use of scarce resources.”
Geographically, the vast majority of the country cannot get a digital TV signal. CBC digital broadcast towers are only in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina (not Saskatoon), Winnipeg, Windsor, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières, Quebec City, Saguenay, Rimouski, Fredericton, Moncton, Charlottetown, Halifax, St. John’s, Whitehorse, and Iqaluit. Everyone outside these areas has needed cable, satellite, or internet to watch Hockey Night for 15 years.
The Real Impact
The CRTC’s rationale for phasing out analog TV was to free up spectrum for cellular service. Digital offers a higher-quality picture, but channels are very limited even in Toronto. I have watched Hockey Night over the air because the picture is so superior to streaming.
This wailing speaks to a genuinely harmful aspect of the Canadian character—or at least the pearl-clutching urban sophisticate character. No surprise that everyone making these arguments seems to live in an urban area, not unlike people insisting on the necessity of door-to-door mail service.
