CBC complains to CRTC after Sask. station taken off satellite

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is asking the federal broadcasting regulator to intervene after a satellite TV company pulled the plug on CBC Saskatchewan.

On Monday, CBC and the French-language service Radio-Canada filed a complaint with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission over Star Choice Television's decision last week to remove CBC Saskatchewan from its basic service.

Losing CBC Saskatchewan was bad news for people like Doug Henry, a resident of Laporte, Sask., near the Alberta border, who was a regular CBC viewer until Star Choice cut the signal last Wednesday.

"That was the only TV we had for years and years and years," he said. "Surely they can find space for a local station."

Many people in the province get CBC Saskatchewan on cable or directly off the airwaves, but for others, satellite TV has been the only option. Theregional CBC service has similar offerings to other CBC channels but also includes local Saskatchewan news and the feature program Living Saskatchewan.

Star Choice's decision won't be taken lying down, said David Kyle, CBC's regional director of radio and television in Saskatchewan.

"It's taking away a choice for people right across the province, a voice that has proven to be journalistically independent, very aggressive, in covering the news," he said. "That voice will no longer be heard on Star Choice satellite."

CBC's complaint to the CRTC says Star Choice is failing to comply with the conditions of its licence requiring a minimum number of CBC stations and should be directed to immediately put CBC Saskatchewan back on the service.

Ken Stein, a spokesman for Shaw Communications, which owns Star Choice, said the stations that were dropped from its service were deleted because they're too similar to affiliated stations.

Shaw said last month it was changing its channel lineup to make more room for high-definition channels.

There have been some complaints about the move to delete stations, butfor now, Star Choice has no plans to put them back on, Stein said.

Aside from CBC Saskatchewan, four other channels were also taken off the service, allowing thesatellite provider to make room for in-demand specialty TV channels.One of the deleted stations, CTV Calgary, was later restored,after hundreds of customers complained.

CBC Saskatchewan is hoping for a similar groundswell of support. It has posted a link onits website encouraging viewers to contact Star Choice to get CBC back on the service.