@ TV Worldwide...
To be fair to the Canadian Govenment, they've long felt they must maintain a Canadian identity, being so close to the world's broadcasting and English-language cultural beacon. I've heard it described as a mouse sleeping next to an elephant. The mouse knows EVERYTHING about the elephant while the elephant may not even notice the mouse. I've also heard one official say that you should be able to know what country you're in when you turn on your TV. If the CRTC didn't step in, Canadian TV, cable and satellite would be totally dominated by American channels and networks.
So the CRTC does allow some but not all U.S. signals into Canada while working hard to develop Canadian broadcasting and Canadian voices. For instance, Toronto is not far from Buffalo, across Lake Ontario. All the Buffalo TV signals can be picked up in Toronto over the air. But the CRTC only allows five Buffalo stations to be seen on cable/satellite: CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox and PBS. That's pretty much the case across most of Canada, although in some places, including Montreal, they carry two PBS stations. In Vancouver, they also pick up a My Network station, as well as carrying a second PBS station. But I'm sure if the CRTC were ruling on it today, they'd say only five U.S. over-the-air stations are allowed. These other exceptions are grandfathered.
