CRTC puts the kibosh on two Canadian HD channels

Tough news for Canadians looking forward to tuning into a pair of new OTA HDTV stations in the future -- the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has shot the whole thing down. Reportedly, the entity found that there was no "compelling reason" to grant a license for a "superstation" equivalent that HDTV Networks was proposing. Additionally, it denied a similar request from YES TV after it was "not convinced that the applicant could fulfill its programming commitments, among other things." Of course, we can't say for sure that the CRTC was just looking to just spoil some harmless fun, but stifling the expansion of additional high-def options doesn't sound like a totally beneficial thing to do (from the outside looking in, anyway).

[Via Here's How]

[aplen22 Posted Apr 4th 2008 3:22AM]

If your canadian, this is news as usual. The CRTC is good at one thing and one thing only, s**ting all over everything. By the time they finally okay 1 more HD channel from below the border they will have come up with another excuse as to how this ultimately will nullify and assimilate "canadian culture." Honestly, much worse than the FCC, except we enjoy violence, sex and profanity in the middle of the afternoon on TV and no one really cares much. So i guess it's not all bad!

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 4th 2008 4:13PM]

Welcome to the People's Republic of Canuckistan. This come as absolutely no surprise with this merry band of idiots known as the CRTC. Apart from stagnating actual growth of industry in this country with their Cuban style protectionism, they also prop up government companies that compete directly with private enterprise to the tune of one billion taxpayer dollars per year. (CBC anyone?) This Marxist enterprise has outlived its purpose. Welcome to the new millenium CRTC. As Canadians, "there is no compelling reason" for you to protect us from ourselves in a world that is increasingly giving consumers more and more choice from music to pay per view television.

I want my HDTV.