Distributors in Canada often cry that they don’t have enough capacity when the topic of regulated carriage of both analog and digital versions of TV channels comes up. In Canada, the CRTC has regulated that distributors must carry both versions of over-the-air channels in the transition period to digital, and has yet to rule on specialty TV channels. In the United States, a familiar debate is raging with direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV distributors DirecTV and EchoStar Satellite trying to be excused from having to distribute both versions of conventional local stations in Hawaii and Alaska come June 2007. The U.S. National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), however, is opposing such a move. Below is an excerpt from its submission to the Federal Communications Commission.

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