If cable companies are forced by law to carry all local signals, perhaps the direct-to-home satellite companies might explain why CTV's affiliate in Kitchener, Ontario is not available on their channel line-up. Residents in the serving area of CTV-Southwestern Ontario cannot receive their local station on BellTV or Shaw Direct. And, although the broadcasters signals ride on cable line-ups, ad revenues are jeopardized when viewers are watching TV stations from outside of their local areas and where local ads are not inserted. Perhaps cable companies should insert locals ads into all signals that reach a subscriber regardless of where they originate. If broadcasters could be assured that their ad revenue model could be preserved in their local coverage areas, there would be less need for a fee-for-carraige model.

Over the air is too costly to maintain relative to the number of Canadians who use it. In my mind, the current mandated over-the-air upgrades to go 'digital' is more about government recovery of spectrum than about better TV service. Broadcasters should be relieved of the requirement to maintain and upgrade over-the-air and, instead, they should fund technical enhancements for full, 100% local ad insertion to cable and satellite providers (for any distribution of non-local affiliate stations and broadcaster-licensed TV shows appearing on any channel). Cable providers should then also be mandated to provide a basic/regulated cable package that includes local TV. Cable would receive funds from broadcasters to maintain the system and over-the-air costs would be eliminated for broadcasters.

We are fooled by cable companies with their basic package which actually contains mostly "Over-the-air" ("free to air") channels.

Let us leave the cable companies (ROGERS, Bell, etc) if you don't need CNN, ESPN, National Geographic or sort of. If you have an old TV, buy a digital decoder converter for $35, fix your antenna direction and you will get tens channels with HD quality or at least much clearer than rabbit antenna can get.

I THINK WE PAY TOO MUCH NOW . WHY DO THESE PLACES NEED TO STEAL FROM US . WE NEED EVERYONE TO HAVE A SAY IN THIS . LETS NOT LET THEM AWAY WITH THIS ROGERS MAKES MONEY FROM ALL OF US EVERY MONTH . LETS NOT LET THEM TAKE AVENTAGE ANYMORE.

Hmmmm......Local tv going out of business......cable companies, not so much. Come on, stop posturing and work together.

"Cable and satellite viewers are being asked to pay for something that has always been available for free over the air."

Cable and satellite viewers ARE PAYING for something that has always been available for free over the air. We are paying the cable and satellite companies; however, the cable and satellite providers keep 100% of those profits! Normally we would call this stealing.

The "Big" networks are only seeking a portion of the revenue that cable companies such as Rogers and Bell charge consumers for a service that Rogers and Bell (and formerly the consumer) receives for free. Because of the nature of such cable companies, they would rather charge an additional fee to the consumer than cut into their CEOs vacation time! Cable companies aren't opposing a tax, they are opposing legislation that would hold them accountable for what they are stealing. Local networks and the CRTC are not seeking a "TV Tax", the cable and satellite companies are.

Nonsense. I can setup an antenna and pick up those very same signals for free. If I choose to pay someone to deliver those signals to me, then what business is that of the broadcaster? If they want to make money on those signals, then set up some premium service to deliver and sell them to me.

Will I be given the choice to not receive (and not pay to receive) local stations? NO
Will I be given the choice to watch the US feeds I pay for, and not have them substituted with the Canadian feed? NO

So, now in addition to forcing the cable and sat cos to deliver the local channels and to substitute their feed over the US feed to maximize the Canadian broadcaster's viewership and hence advertising revenues, now they also want to be paid to for this! More outrageous socialist nonsense!

The Canadian broadcasters are more interested in being re-broadcasters. They spend hundreds of millions of year to block our access to US feeds. Yet, they plead poverty when it comes to local TV.

Nonsense. I can setup an antenna and pick up those very same signals for free. If I choose to pay someone to deliver those signals to me, then what business is that of the broadcaster?

Right now I'm forced to pay for local carriage. And they substitute those signals over US feeds without me having any choice. So, what will we get in exchange for being forced to pay for their signals?

Will we be given the choice to not receive (and not pay to receive) local stations? NO
Will we be given the choice to watch the US feeds I pay for, and not have them substituted with the Canadian feed? NO

So, now in addition to forcing the cable and sat cos to deliver the local channels and to substitute their feed over the US feed to maximize the Canadian broadcaster's viewership and hence advertising revenues, now they also want to be paid to to take away personal liberties. More outrageous socialist nonsense!

The Canadian broadcasters are more interested in being re-broadcasters. They spend hundreds of millions a year to block our access to US feeds. Yet, they plead poverty when it comes to local TV.

You don't understand it seems. If you want to access these channels for free, go ahead and use "rabbit ears". Simple. You might not be aware that cable company's don't make hardly as much as you think off just cable. Almost, if not all, offer PHONE, AND INTERNET and make up for a lot of profits. There is a HUGE cost in getting that "FREE" signal to your home. DID YOU KNOW that cable company's pay a price PER MONTH, PER POWER POLE TO THE POWER AUTHORITY?
They do. All those poles add up, and curry a huge price tag. Call and see how much it costs to rent space on an pole. and add that all up. PLUS the labor in KEEPING that cable running to your home, little alone the labor and costs from installs.

One more thing, as far as know, I think the broadcasters should be paying the cable company's. If cable didn't carry these "FREE-OVER-THE-AIR" stations, I high doubt they would exist.

VOTE NO TO THE TV TAX, IM SICK OF TAXES!
Lets face it folks, the cable company's have a GOOD BUSINESS MODEL.

How can this be true when I have to call the cable company in to install the cable line to my apartment? They have you subscribe to cable to be able to get those supposedly free local channels.

You do not have to subscribe to cable or satellite to get these free channels. I think that point has been made quite often. When you subscribe to cable or satellite, you are paying for a package of channels you can not get for free. If you really are subscribing just to get your local CTV, Global or CBC, then you are wasting your money. Buy an antenna! Remember, if it were not for the CRTC, cable and satellite might not even carry those local signals. Right now they are forced by law to have them as part of their basic package. If CTV and the rest wants cable/satellite customers to start paying for their signals, then stop broadcasting them for free, tell the CRTC to drop the must-carry rules and dump simulcast substitution. Put them on a level playing field and let me decide if I want to buy the package that they are included in.

You don't have to call Rogers. Get rabbit ears and you'll get the channels for free.