Simultaneous substitution
Encyclopedia
Simultaneous substitution (known also as simsubbing or signal substitution) is a practice mandated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requiring Canadian
cable
, direct broadcast satellite
and multichannel multipoint distribution service
television distribution companies to substitute the signal of a foreign or non-local television station with the signal of a local or regional over-the-air
station when the two stations are airing identical programming simultaneously. Although the policy officially applies to any foreign signal, in actual practice the signals are virtually always of American
origin.
The practice has become controversial because its implementation will often pre-empt the signals of US networks available through Canadian cable and satellite providers such as those of ABC
, CBS
, Fox
and NBC
. Simsubbing usually receives nationwide attention in the days leading up to the annual broadcast of the Super Bowl
football championship, where the famed high-profile US Super Bowl commercials are virtually blocked from viewing on Canadian television. The Canadian network broadcasting the championship is eligible to request that the US broadcaster's signal be replaced in Canada with its own signal, so long as both broadcasts are aired simultaneously.
The CRTC first commissioned simsubbing in 1972, and it is sometimes erroneously called simulcast
ing, the name of a practice different from simultaneous substitution in that there is no signal replacement. According to the CRTC, the practice of simultaneous substitution is necessary "to protect the rights of broadcasters, to enable TV stations to draw enough advertising dollars and to keep advertising dollars in the Canadian market". Canadian broadcast television
networks, who must request each and every substitution on an individual basis, have been criticized for exploiting the regulation and not investing enough money into Canadian content
.
was the monopoly broadcaster in Canada. In 1960, the Board of Broadcast Governors
, predecessor to the CRTC, granted licenses for commercial stations in order to provide an alternative to CBC. These broadcasters began operating in 1961, and acquired Canadian rights to many US programs.
As approximately 30 percent of the Canadian population — those who were close enough to the US border — had access to over-the-air
(OTA) broadcast signals from both Canadian and US networks, they could choose to watch American programs on either a Canadian or US network. Many of these Canadians chose to watch the US network (i.e. CBS
, ABC
or NBC
) rather than the Canadian network feed. Consequently, many Canadian broadcasters
began airing their US-purchased programs in advance of the US broadcaster to attract more viewers and earn money from Canadian commercials, and some Canadian businesses who advertised on the Canadian stations also bought airtime on the American stations receivable in the same areas.
As cable television
began to proliferate across Canada in the early 1970s, viewers far from the US border were beginning to obtain access to US signals that were once unobtainable. In 1972, as response to pressure from Canadian broadcasters, the CRTC introduced the simultaneous substitution regulation as a method to circumvent diminution of the value of Canadian networks' exclusive broadcast rights to US programs. Through the 1990s, as satellite television services
gained popularity and were eventually licensed in Canada, simultaneous substitution became a requirement on these services as well.
By the late 1990s and into the 2000s, the simultaneous substitution regulation had reached its full potential, with Canadian broadcast networks airing almost all of their US-purchased programming in sync with the US network's broadcast to ensure maximum eligibility to request substitution.
, Global
, CTV Two and Citytv
often rely heavily on US-originating programs, their programming schedules are often heavily affected by the schedules of corresponding United States network broadcasters. For example, if Fox
, a US network, were to move their series House
to a new time slot, the Canadian broadcaster of first-run episodes of that program would need to move their broadcast of House to correspond with the new Fox time slot if they wished to retain simultaneous substitution rights.
In some instances, American television stations near the border — especially those in small markets which depend on their audience in a nearby Canadian market for their financial viability — have intentionally counter-programmed against this rule by altering their schedules in order to avoid substitutions. In one notable instance, WFFF-TV
in Burlington
, Vermont
constantly re-scheduled its daily airings of That 70's Show in order to prevent CJNT-TV
in Montreal
from invoking the rule.
Many US networks air their most popular programming during prime time hours
, meaning that in order to maximize simsub opportunities Canadian private broadcasters are often unable or unwilling to air their own original programming during these hours. As a result, Canadian content programming is commonly scheduled as a secondary concern, to fill holes where an American program cannot be placed for substitution. This issue has also extended beyond scripted entertainment programming — all three major networks in Canada have faced criticism for at least one incident in which the network seemingly deemed a live Canadian news or cultural awards program to be less important than simsubbing an American reality show:
while simulcasting an American show, the American program cannot be viewed.
With the increasingly common practice of American stations extending programs for a minute or two into the start of the next hour in order to avoid audience loss, such errors are sometimes unavoidable if the Canadian station is not able to match the altered start time.
(HDTV) feeds must also be simultaneously substituted, but due to the lack of local over-the-air HDTV transmitters outside of major markets (such as Vancouver
and the Greater Toronto Area
), HD simsubs are not very common outside of the aforementioned areas.
Although the CRTC's policy regarding HD simultaneous substitutions do not require them to be applied if the quality of the Canadian feed is not equal or better than the US feed, there have been instances in which inferior Canadian feeds were substituted over higher-quality US feeds. In such cases, complaints can be filed to the CRTC, whereas the commission will confer with the applicable BDU and Canadian network about the issue.
Implementation of simultaneous substitutions can also cause issues involving digital on-screen graphics (or "bugs") applied by the originating broadcaster. Some Canadian broadcasters (primarily stations owned by CTVglobemedia
) overlay opaque bugs over the US bug, while others add their own bug to a different area of the screen.
For example, many viewers in the Greater Toronto Area
can pick up American channels from Buffalo, New York
over the air
, as well as unmatched high definition versions of the stations from both Buffalo and Seattle
, Washington on cable. Many viewers from Toronto were able to watch these channels for events such as the 2008 Super Bowl
where there were no Canadian commercial interruptions. However, following a complaint filed by CTV in 2008, the CRTC has tightened up enforcement, issuing a statement that the Super Bowl XLIII
standard and high definition broadcasts must be simsubbed for providers within range of CTV's OTA transmitters.
, and is implemented by the receiver's firmware; this method enforces simsubs only in areas where they are needed.
Bell TV invokes simsubs to all subscribers nationwide, implemented by its uplink centre; by doing so, simsubs for a particular channel are implemented nationwide, regardless of where the subscriber lives or which feed the subscriber watches. Notably, despite not legally needing to do so, Bell TV also invokes simsubs on programming being simulcast by TSN
and TSN2
sports channels that have been owned by Bell since 2001.
, the signal of Ottawa
's CJOH-TV
has frequently been substituted by the signal of local station CFCF-TV
, even though both stations are part of the CTV
network.
Simultaneous substitution has also been implemented on French language television stations. From the 1970s to the mid-1990s, TVA
's flagship Montreal station CFTM-TV
regularly had its signal substituting that of its Sherbrooke sister station CHLT-TV
(which was obtainable in the Montreal area until 1995).
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
, direct broadcast satellite
Direct broadcast satellite
Direct broadcast satellite is a term used to refer to satellite television broadcasts intended for home reception.A designation broader than DBS would be direct-to-home signals, or DTH. This has initially distinguished the transmissions directly intended for home viewers from cable television...
and multichannel multipoint distribution service
Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service
Broadband Radio Service formerly known as Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service , also known as Wireless Cable, is a wireless telecommunications technology, used for general-purpose broadband networking or, more commonly, as an alternative method of cable television programming reception...
television distribution companies to substitute the signal of a foreign or non-local television station with the signal of a local or regional over-the-air
Terrestrial television
Terrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or television antenna aerials...
station when the two stations are airing identical programming simultaneously. Although the policy officially applies to any foreign signal, in actual practice the signals are virtually always of American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
origin.
The practice has become controversial because its implementation will often pre-empt the signals of US networks available through Canadian cable and satellite providers such as those of ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
and NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. Simsubbing usually receives nationwide attention in the days leading up to the annual broadcast of the Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
football championship, where the famed high-profile US Super Bowl commercials are virtually blocked from viewing on Canadian television. The Canadian network broadcasting the championship is eligible to request that the US broadcaster's signal be replaced in Canada with its own signal, so long as both broadcasts are aired simultaneously.
The CRTC first commissioned simsubbing in 1972, and it is sometimes erroneously called simulcast
Simulcast
Simulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...
ing, the name of a practice different from simultaneous substitution in that there is no signal replacement. According to the CRTC, the practice of simultaneous substitution is necessary "to protect the rights of broadcasters, to enable TV stations to draw enough advertising dollars and to keep advertising dollars in the Canadian market". Canadian broadcast television
Terrestrial television
Terrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or television antenna aerials...
networks, who must request each and every substitution on an individual basis, have been criticized for exploiting the regulation and not investing enough money into Canadian content
Canadian content
Canadian content refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission requirements that radio and television broadcasters must air a certain percentage of content that was at least partly written, produced, presented, or otherwise contributed to by persons from...
.
History
Through the 1950s, CBCCanadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
was the monopoly broadcaster in Canada. In 1960, the Board of Broadcast Governors
Board of Broadcast Governors
The Board of Broadcast Governors was a Canadian arms-length government agency created in 1958 to regulate television and radio broadcasting, originally taking over that function from the CBC. It was replaced by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in 1968....
, predecessor to the CRTC, granted licenses for commercial stations in order to provide an alternative to CBC. These broadcasters began operating in 1961, and acquired Canadian rights to many US programs.
As approximately 30 percent of the Canadian population — those who were close enough to the US border — had access to over-the-air
Over-the-air
Over-the-air has several meanings, depending on context. *Generally, over-the-air is synonymous for wireless.*Specifically, over-the-air can have the following meanings or is used in the following contexts:...
(OTA) broadcast signals from both Canadian and US networks, they could choose to watch American programs on either a Canadian or US network. Many of these Canadians chose to watch the US network (i.e. CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
or NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
) rather than the Canadian network feed. Consequently, many Canadian broadcasters
Television in Canada
Television in Canada officially began with the opening of the nation's first television stations in Montreal and Toronto in 1952. As with most media in Canada, the television industry, and the television programming available in that country, are strongly influenced by the American media, perhaps...
began airing their US-purchased programs in advance of the US broadcaster to attract more viewers and earn money from Canadian commercials, and some Canadian businesses who advertised on the Canadian stations also bought airtime on the American stations receivable in the same areas.
As cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
began to proliferate across Canada in the early 1970s, viewers far from the US border were beginning to obtain access to US signals that were once unobtainable. In 1972, as response to pressure from Canadian broadcasters, the CRTC introduced the simultaneous substitution regulation as a method to circumvent diminution of the value of Canadian networks' exclusive broadcast rights to US programs. Through the 1990s, as satellite television services
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
gained popularity and were eventually licensed in Canada, simultaneous substitution became a requirement on these services as well.
By the late 1990s and into the 2000s, the simultaneous substitution regulation had reached its full potential, with Canadian broadcast networks airing almost all of their US-purchased programming in sync with the US network's broadcast to ensure maximum eligibility to request substitution.
Effects
The high incidence of simultaneous substitution requests by privately-owned Canadian television networks to draw advertising dollars has had profound effects on various spectrums, ranging from Canadian network schedules to portions of programming being lost due to mistimed substitutions.Network schedules
As private Canadian broadcast networks such as CTVCTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
, Global
Global Television Network
Global Television Network is an English language privately owned television network in Canada, owned by Calgary-based Shaw Communications, as part of its Shaw Media division...
, CTV Two and Citytv
Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian English language television system owned and operated by Rogers Communications under its Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. division...
often rely heavily on US-originating programs, their programming schedules are often heavily affected by the schedules of corresponding United States network broadcasters. For example, if Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
, a US network, were to move their series House
House (TV series)
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
to a new time slot, the Canadian broadcaster of first-run episodes of that program would need to move their broadcast of House to correspond with the new Fox time slot if they wished to retain simultaneous substitution rights.
In some instances, American television stations near the border — especially those in small markets which depend on their audience in a nearby Canadian market for their financial viability — have intentionally counter-programmed against this rule by altering their schedules in order to avoid substitutions. In one notable instance, WFFF-TV
WFFF-TV
WFFF-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Vermont's Champlain Valley and Upstate New York's North Country. Licensed to Burlington, Vermont, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 43 from a transmitter on Vermont's highest peak, Mount Mansfield...
in Burlington
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
constantly re-scheduled its daily airings of That 70's Show in order to prevent CJNT-TV
CJNT-TV
CJNT-DT is a Canadian multicultural television station in Montreal, Quebec. The station is owned and operated by Channel Zero and uses the on-air brand Metro 14.-History:...
in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
from invoking the rule.
Many US networks air their most popular programming during prime time hours
Prime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
, meaning that in order to maximize simsub opportunities Canadian private broadcasters are often unable or unwilling to air their own original programming during these hours. As a result, Canadian content programming is commonly scheduled as a secondary concern, to fill holes where an American program cannot be placed for substitution. This issue has also extended beyond scripted entertainment programming — all three major networks in Canada have faced criticism for at least one incident in which the network seemingly deemed a live Canadian news or cultural awards program to be less important than simsubbing an American reality show:
- In 2003, Global flagship station CIIICIII-TVCIII-DT-41 is a television station owned by Shaw Communications that serves much of the population of the Canadian province of Ontario. It is a flagship station of the Global Television Network...
offloaded its coverage of the Ontario provincial electionOntario general election, 2003The Ontario general election of 2003 was held on October 2, 2003, to elect the 103 members of the 38th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
to then-sister station CHCHCHCH-TVCHCH-DT, channel 11, is a television station originating in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, with transmitters located throughout Ontario. CHCH currently operates as an independent station, having previously served as a CBC Television affiliate, and more recently as the flagship station of the...
HamiltonHamilton, OntarioHamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
in order to maintain simsub rights to an episode of Survivor: Pearl IslandsSurvivor: Pearl IslandsSurvivor: Pearl Islands is the seventh season of the United States reality show Survivor. It was filmed in 2003 and debuted in the United States on CBS on September 18, 2003....
. - In 2006, CBC TelevisionCBC TelevisionCBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
was criticized when it announced a plan to bump its primary network newscast, The National, to a later time one night a week in order to simulcast the short-lived The One: Making a Music StarThe One: Making a Music StarThe One: Making a Music Star was an American reality television series that aired in July 2006 on ABC in the United States, and CBC Television in Canada. The show was hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos, known to Canadian viewers as the host of CBC's The Hour...
. - In 2007, CTV was forced to back down on a plan to tape-delay the 2007 Juno Awards in order to maintain its simsub rights to an episode of The Amazing RaceThe Amazing RaceThe Amazing Race is a reality television game show in which teams of two people, who have some form of a preexisting personal relationship, race around the world in competition with other teams...
.
Portions of programming lost
Due to the high number of simultaneous substitutions requested by Canadian broadcasters, portions of programming are sometimes lost. This may occur for a variety of reasons, including the cable provider erroneously timing the substitution or substituting over the wrong distant signal, the Canadian broadcaster making a scheduling error when requesting substitution, or the American broadcaster making a last minute change to its schedule. Also, should a Canadian network interrupt its programming to deliver breaking newsBreaking news
Breaking news, also known as a special report or news bulletin, is a current event that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming and/or current news in order to report its details. Many times, breaking news is used after the news network has already reported on this story...
while simulcasting an American show, the American program cannot be viewed.
With the increasingly common practice of American stations extending programs for a minute or two into the start of the next hour in order to avoid audience loss, such errors are sometimes unavoidable if the Canadian station is not able to match the altered start time.
High-definition television
High-definition televisionHigh-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
(HDTV) feeds must also be simultaneously substituted, but due to the lack of local over-the-air HDTV transmitters outside of major markets (such as Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
and the Greater Toronto Area
Greater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area is the largest metropolitan area in Canada, with a 2006 census population of 5.5 million. The Greater Toronto Area is usually defined as the central city of Toronto, along with four regional municipalities surrounding it: Durham, Halton, Peel, and York...
), HD simsubs are not very common outside of the aforementioned areas.
Although the CRTC's policy regarding HD simultaneous substitutions do not require them to be applied if the quality of the Canadian feed is not equal or better than the US feed, there have been instances in which inferior Canadian feeds were substituted over higher-quality US feeds. In such cases, complaints can be filed to the CRTC, whereas the commission will confer with the applicable BDU and Canadian network about the issue.
On-screen graphics
CTVglobemedia
CTVglobemedia , was one of Canada's largest private media companies. Its operations include newspaper publishing , television broadcasting and production , radio broadcasting , and their respective Internet properties.Originally established by BCE and the Thomson family in 2001 combining CTV Inc.,...
) overlay opaque bugs over the US bug, while others add their own bug to a different area of the screen.
Exceptions
Enforcement, or lack thereof, of the regulations has led to instances where some Canadian cable and satellite subscribers are able to receive the original American channels in Canada without simultaneous substitution.For example, many viewers in the Greater Toronto Area
Greater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area is the largest metropolitan area in Canada, with a 2006 census population of 5.5 million. The Greater Toronto Area is usually defined as the central city of Toronto, along with four regional municipalities surrounding it: Durham, Halton, Peel, and York...
can pick up American channels from Buffalo, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
over the air
Terrestrial television
Terrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or television antenna aerials...
, as well as unmatched high definition versions of the stations from both Buffalo and Seattle
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, Washington on cable. Many viewers from Toronto were able to watch these channels for events such as the 2008 Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
where there were no Canadian commercial interruptions. However, following a complaint filed by CTV in 2008, the CRTC has tightened up enforcement, issuing a statement that the Super Bowl XLIII
Super Bowl XLIII
Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game pitting the American Football Conference champion Pittsburgh Steelers against the National Football Conference champion Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League champion for the 2008 season. The game was played on February 1, 2009,...
standard and high definition broadcasts must be simsubbed for providers within range of CTV's OTA transmitters.
Simsubs and satellite
In terms of satellite, the practice of simsubbing depends on the company. Shaw Direct invokes simsubs according to the subscriber's postal codeCanadian postal code
A Canadian postal code is a six-character string that forms part of a postal address in Canada. Like British and Dutch postcodes, Canada's postal codes are alphanumeric. They are in the format A0A 0A0, where A is a letter and 0 is a digit, with a space separating the third and fourth characters...
, and is implemented by the receiver's firmware; this method enforces simsubs only in areas where they are needed.
Bell TV invokes simsubs to all subscribers nationwide, implemented by its uplink centre; by doing so, simsubs for a particular channel are implemented nationwide, regardless of where the subscriber lives or which feed the subscriber watches. Notably, despite not legally needing to do so, Bell TV also invokes simsubs on programming being simulcast by TSN
The Sports Network
The Sports Network, commonly abbreviated as TSN, is a Canadian English language Category C specialty channel and is Canada's leading English language sports TV channel. TSN premiered in 1984, in the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels...
and TSN2
TSN2
TSN2 is a secondary feed of the Canadian English language Category C specialty channel TSN, owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc., a joint venture of Bell Media and ESPN...
sports channels that have been owned by Bell since 2001.
Other uses
Although simultaneous substitution was conceived to substitute the signal of a foreign station, the practice has been applied as well to substitute the signal of a non-local Canadian station in a given market. For example in MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, the signal of Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
's CJOH-TV
CJOH-TV
CJOH-DT is a television station serving Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and the surrounding region. Owned by Bell Media, it is part of the CTV Television Network....
has frequently been substituted by the signal of local station CFCF-TV
CFCF-TV
CFCF-DT is a CTV-owned and operated station located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada...
, even though both stations are part of the CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
network.
Simultaneous substitution has also been implemented on French language television stations. From the 1970s to the mid-1990s, TVA
TVA (TV network)
TVA is a privately owned French language television network in Canada. The network is currently owned by Groupe TVA Inc. , a publicly traded subsidiary of Quebecor Media...
's flagship Montreal station CFTM-TV
CFTM-TV
CFTM-DT channel 10, is the flagship of the TVA television network, located in Montreal, Quebec.-History:It opened on February 19, 1961, a few weeks after CFCF-TV went on the air for the first time. It was owned by Joseph Alexandre DeSève and his company, Télé-Métropole...
regularly had its signal substituting that of its Sherbrooke sister station CHLT-TV
CHLT-TV
CHLT-TV is the TVA owned and operated station in Sherbrooke, Quebec.The station went on the air for the first time on August 12, 1956. It was owned by La Tribune, the city's major newspaper, along with CHLT radio. Like most television stations in Quebec, it was a dual affiliate of both CBC and...
(which was obtainable in the Montreal area until 1995).