Ontarians fight for TVO after plans revealed to drop signal outside Toronto

Ontarianswant their TVO.

That's been the reactionon social mediaafter the public broadcaster announced it would be eliminating its over-the-air signal outside of Toronto this summer all in an attempt to save $1 million a year.

• TVO dropping over-the-air transmission outside Toronto

As part of the plan,TVO will decommission eight over-the-air transmitters in Ottawa, Belleville, Chatham, Cloyne, Kitchener, London, Thunder Bay and Windsor.

Only TVO's transmitter in Toronto will be maintained, in order to fulfil the requirements of the broadcaster'sCRTC licence. The decision means viewers outside Toronto who rely on a free,over-the-air signal will no longer be able to tune into TVO for the first time since the broadcaster began operating in 1970.

'I grew up on TVO'

After news broke of the decision, people on the CBC Ottawa Facebook page chimed in with how unhappy they were about it.

"I grew up on TVO. I didn't have cable and it was the only interesting channel," wrote Caroline Rodriguez. "[It] taught me so much and helped improve my English. I hate that they're doing this."

Jackie Kokauaechoed those sentiments, calling TVO "a staple" for her children.

"Many people (including myself) are moving away from cable," wrote Kokaua. "And TVO dropping over-the-air transmission means their programming becomes less accessible. Too bad."

Ontarians weren't just sharing their frustration on social media, however: as of Wednesday morning, about 200 people had signed an online petition calling on TVO to rescind their decision.

That said, at least one respondent noted that in order to keep TVO'sprogramming standards high cutting over-the-air transmission from their budget might not be the worst idea.

That argument is similar to the one Lisa de Wilde, the broadcaster's CEO, wrote in a press release.

"TVO has to make tough choices about where to allocate resources in order to move forward with the strategic priorities of digital learning and high-quality current-affairs journalism, as well as cover inflationary pressures," she said.

Coming end of over-the-air broadcasting

GregO'Brien, editor and publisher of Cartt.ca, a publication that tracks Canada's telecommunications industry, said he was surprised by TVO'ssudden move away from over-the-air broadcasting. But he said the move is partof a broader trend.

"I was surprised it happened so soon, this is an announcement I would've anticipated maybe five years from now," O'Brien said on CBC Radio's All in a Day. "Having it right away was a little shocking."

O'Brien said the frequencies of the broadcast spectrumdedicated to television are starting to be repurposedfor cellphone users in other parts of the world and this will eventually happen in Canada.

"Now as fewer and fewer people watch over-the-air TV and ever more people add on smartphones, the providers need more spectrum," O'Brien said.

"So these airwaves will eventually be auctioned off to the highest bidder, and they'll have to move the TV signals to either other spectrum or completely ... off the air altogether."

O'Brien said it's hard to measure how many people use over-the-air TV, but the common estimate is about one to five per cent of Canadians.

He said it's a reality that people will eventually lose free TV, as the programming moves to cable, satellite and internet subscriptions.

TVO's over-the-air signal is expected to go dead by July 31, 2017.