TVO, Ontario’s public broadcaster says it will continue over-the-air free broadcasting across eight transmitters in Ottawa, Belleville, Thunder Bay, Chatham, Cloyne, Kitchener, London, and Windsor. The announcement today comes just 16 days after the broadcaster said it would decommission the eight transmitters to meet their financial targets.
Ontario viewers initially reacted with anger, sharing their dissatisfaction with the decision on social media. Liberal MPP John Fraser was also a target of viewer backlash.
Thanks to @tvo and minister @MitzieHunter for listening pic.twitter.com/x8H0xosSNC
— John Fraser (@JohnFraserOS) February 17, 2017
Decommissioning the transmitters would have resulted in an annual savings of $1 million, enabling TVO to meet its current financial targets.
“We listened to the concerns of people who rely on over-the-air transmission to enjoy TVO programming and we consulted with our primary funding partner, the Government of Ontario, about the concerns we heard. That resulted in the government’s decision to flow an additional $1 million to TVO to ensure we can continue to operate the transmitters, while still meeting our commitments to strategic priorities of digital learning and high-quality current-affairs journalism,” TVO Chief Executive Officer Lisa de Wilde said in a statement Friday.
Image via TVO Screengrab
