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Little Wilmington Leads the
Way
The small city of Wilmington (population 100,000), North Carolina, will
become the first city in the U.S. to switch over to digital TV. All of the
rest of the U.S. will follow five months later, on February 17, 2009, but
Wilmington willingly leads the way.
Wilmington's Mayor, Bill Saffo, says "There's a pride because we'll be the
first in the country." They will pave the way for the rest of the U.S. by
making the switch on September 8. Broadcasters look forward to testing the
new digital TV technology in the city's small market.
Kamloops will be the first Canadian city to implement multiplexed digital TV
if the feasibility study being developed by the Canadian Media Guild is
implemented.
Kamloops is a logical choice for implementing the new technology. We are a
small market with demographics similar to small cities across Canada. Also,
we need it the most since we are the only city in Canada that doesn't have a
CBC transmitter.
Multiplexed digital TV is very efficient and cost effective. It would allow
CBC and five other broadcasters to send free TV over the air in the space
previously occupied by only one channel.
Kamloops is approximately the same size as Wilmington, although that city's
metro region has a population of about 500,000. Wilmington's fraction of
over-the-air viewers is the same as ours, about 7 per cent.
The difference is that the U.S. has set a firm date for the digital
switchover whereas Canada will let the market decide if, and when, the
conversion will take place.
Despite indecisiveness on the part of the Canadian government, digital TV
will eventually come to Canada. Most TVs purchased in the U.S. are now
digital-ready and soon that will be all that's available.
Canada can stumble into the era of digital TV or we can follow the U.S.
example by having an orderly transition. When we do, Kamloops will be the
little city that leads our nation.
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