News Releases

March 5, 2003

CBC/Radio-Canada Achieves Satellite Service Expansion

Ottawa — CBC/Radio-Canada is pleased to announce that, as a result of the operational availability of the Nimiq-2 satellite, Bell ExpressVu subscribers will now have access to additional CBC/Radio-Canada television signals.

In fulfillment of its January 2002, contractual obligations to CBC/Radio-Canada, Bell ExpressVu will add Radio-Canada's CBVT Quebec City television signal and CBC's North — Mountain Time television signal. In addition, as a result of the increased satellite capacity now available, Bell ExpressVu will also carry Radio-Canada's CBWFT Winnipeg television signal.

"We are pleased that Bell ExpressVu has moved toward greater carriage of our TV services, and our Galaxie pay-audio services. However, we are still concerned that Canadians in the nation's capital do not have access to our French and English Ottawa television stations," said Robert Rabinovitch, President and CEO, CBC/Radio-Canada. "With the growth of DTH penetration in Canada, CBC/Radio-Canada looks forward to the addition of even more of its television signals to Bell ExpressVu's line-up."

CBC/Radio-Canada sees this expansion as a positive step towards meeting the Corporation's objective of ensuring that all Canadians have the greatest possible access to their national public broadcaster and its local/regional programs. This important objective was echoed in February by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages, which recommended that the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) require direct broadcast satellite service providers to carry all of CBC/Radio-Canada's local and regional television signals. Currently, CBC's television signals are not as accessible to Canadians as those of the major English private broadcasters.

About CBC/Radio-Canada

CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada's national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. CBC/Radio-Canada reaches Canadians through eight national radio and television networks, its full-service Web sites, local/regional stations and affiliates, as well as the digital television channel Country Canada and the continuous music network Galaxie. In addition, CBC/Radio-Canada has forged partnerships with other broadcasters and is a partner in the satellite radio service SIRIUS Canada as well as in the specialty television services ARTV and The Documentary Channel. Through this array of activities, CBC/Radio-Canada brings diverse regional and cultural perspectives into the daily lives of Canadians in English, French and eight aboriginal languages. (2006)

For additional information, please contact:

Katherine Heath-Eves
Media Relations
CBC/Radio-Canada (Ottawa)
Tel: (613) 288-6235
heathevk@cbc.ca
www.cbc.radio-canada.ca