For some Canadians, the days of free over-the-air TV signals are numbered.

The current CRTC deadline for conventional broadcasters to convert to digital transmitters in all ‘major markets’ is Aug. 31 2011, largely due to the costly transition.

The price tag for Canada’s OTA networks is estimated to be between a whopping $300 million and $400 million, according to the CRTC.

‘No conventional broadcaster can afford to replicate their analog network,’ explains Fred Mattocks, CBC’s executive director of production and resources. ‘And given that 95% of Canadians get their TV from cable and satellite, there is no business case to replicate these networks, built at a time when cable was a minority delivery mode and DTH didn’t exist.’

Ironically, while viewers in smaller remote locations may be stranded without any OTA options, our new ‘digital universe’ will favor the bulk of the population that hugs the U.S. border strip where dozens of American HD channels are available for free to Canadian consumers with HD antennae.

Meanwhile, Canuck producers are already taking the HD plunge.

‘Watching television is almost a theatrical experience now – so you have to think about that, shoot for that, and deliver for that,’ explains Peter Raymont, White Pine Pictures’ topper and producer of the series The Border for CBC. ‘What hasn’t happened is broadcasters haven’t given us more money for something that does cost a bit more.

‘They’ve just changed their specs and said you’ve got to deliver in HD now,’ Raymont continues. ‘It does cost more, there’s no doubt, and broadcasters haven’t added more money into their licence fee to pay for the extra costs. So you have to absorb it… that has hurt the bottom line of the producers.’

Across the board, producers say the process is costlier and more labor-intensive at times, but HD has become the new international standard.

‘CTV first began requiring HD delivery for original productions about four years ago,’ says Scott Henderson, CTV’s VP communications. ‘Some accommodations [for higher costs] were made when this process began… but [HD delivery] is now standard and therefore not an issue, he says.

Producers concur that the extra work and cost pays off eventually.

‘HD is more work but the results are worth it,’ says David Hatch, cofounder of WhistleStop Productions, based in Bloomfield, ON. ‘Our business has grown to international markets – there’s huge appetites for HD in other parts of the world.’