CTV Now Broadcasting HD in Toronto, Vancouver

CTV has completed installation of two over-the-air HD transmitters in Canada's two largest English-language markets, Toronto and Vancouver, becoming the first national broadcaster transmitting HD terrestrially in the country.

CTV's HD signals, programmatically divided into "CTV HD East" and "CTV HD West," are now transmitted from Toronto's CN Tower and from Mt. Seymour in British Columbia, respectively. Canadian viewers with HD sets equipped with digital tuners (and antennas, of course) can now pull in HD signals.

CTV reported that the completion of transmitter operations represents the latest development in its multi-stage rollout of terrestrial HD. Nearly every hour of primetime in the upcoming 2005-06 TV season will be broadcast in HD--including six Canadian shows, 31 American series, and more than a dozen movies and specials.

CTV is owned by Bell Globemedia, a Canadian multimedia company, which also owns The Globe and Mail, a national newspaper.