The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutTimes Advocate, 1989-09-13, Page 5By Jim Beckett' .11 Think back to your personal saddest time in Canadian history, to a time where an event made thousands cry. For most people it came with the announcement of the death of Terry Fox mid -way through his dramatic march across Canada as he courageously publicized the fight against cancer To me Terry Fox represented everything you wanted in a truly world class hero and he was Canadian. The value of his accom- plishment in raising awareness about cancer lives on and will be marked in Exetefand hundreds of other communities across Canada Sunday. Lloyd Robison and his Scotiabank staff made sure the Terry Fox Run continued in town again this year. You read last week about the car wash challenge between Royal Bank manager George Panelas and Lloyd Robison. Now Ken Agnew of the Commerce has thrown his car in the ring as well which will make the competition more inter- esting. Some of the, volunteers for this year's event are: Angela McLean, Barb Radmacher, Karen VanDam, Valerie Hopkin, Adie McNaugh- ton, Blaine Anderson and Shelly VanAiken. Doug Ellison of Ellison Travel (an organizer of earlier Terry Fox Runs) called last week to challenge other businesses to sponsor him in this year's run. He will match donations to a total of $500 and has asked for support from businesses and service clubs. If 50 people sponsor him for $10 Doug will throw in another $500 and the Can- cer campaign will be $1,000 richer. Call him today at 235-2000. * *,******* Mickie Struyke, who many of you will remember as the Shaw's manager several months ago, will be back in business on Main Street soon when she opens her new business in the former location of The Dresser. The store will feature gag gifts, novelties, used books and magazines and will be called (What else?) Mickie's. * * * * * * * * * The Exeter library is joining other libraries in Huron County in a drive to install a computerized catalogue in their branch. The com- puter, which operates from a compact -disc memory, has enough stor- age for five million book entries - enough to keep track of what's available in 400 Ontario libraries. The computer means local patrons can find a book not only in their local branch, but also in any coun- try library system in seconds, and be able to request it for loan. The compact -discs are updated every six months. The computer costs $2,883 with a colour monitor, or $2,451 with monochrome, and funds are being raised through donations accepted -at the branch. Jon Dinney and Brandy. The Exeter Lions Club is joining with other Lions Clubs across the country to raise money for Canine Vision Canada, a training cen- tre foodog guides for the blind and visually impaired. Lions Club 1st, vice-president Jon Dinney said the local walk will be fun. Just pick up a sponsor form from any club member or at the municipal office. Last year walkers raised $210,000 and this year the goal is, $500,000. • Times -Advocate, September 13,1989 Page 5 Cable TV - a tightrope of channels, wires and regulation By Adrian Harte DUBLIN, CLINTON - Canadi- ans were among the first in the world to be able to receive televi- sion signals off a wire to their homes instead of relying on an out- : door antenna. Cable television first became practical in the 1950s for cities with few local stations, but with enough population to support la cable service. By the mid-1970s, cable had come to smaller centres, like Exet- ' er, but many said it would never be economical enough to offer to sur- rounding villages. Today, nearly everyone who lives in a built-up area can hook up their television or VCR to their local cable tv service. "TV's a pretty important part of society these days," said Don Stin- son at Ex-Cen Cablevision in Clin- ton. The company provides identi- cal service to Exeter, Dashwood, Huron Park and Crediton: the cost varying according to the number of potential subscribers in each town. Cable companies operate under the strict regulation of the Canadian Radio Telecommunication Com- mission (CRTC). Stinson says his company is only allowed rate in- creases of up to 80 percent of the Consumer Price Index each year - meaning bills don't keep pace with inflation. Capital expenses, like Exeter What you get American stations `Speciah!I • cable channels ................................ Info, gov't, shopping Other language Total: 25 channels Cost: basic and discretionary $16.27 in Exeter, $ 18.45 in Dashwood and Crediton, $20.45 in Huron Parr For an overall view of cable televi- son service in this area, these graphs were created with the help of the cable companies to represent their channel listings. The listings of Rogers Cable TV in London was given for a comparison of what's available in a larger urban area. At first glance, it appears the local services all get eight Canadian sta- tions (except for Lucan's seven), and the four American networks, but the number of special cable -only chan- nels varies from•town to town. In fact, in Hensall and Zurich, TSN is still a separate pay charnel. The prices are given for compa- rable subscription packages with the special cable services, but do not include the 11 percent federal and 8 percent provincial taxes. With cable TV a near monopoly in each community, to get a different service, your only choice is to spend thousands on your own satellite dish... or move. Grand Bend Hensall 8( Zurich Canadian stations 1 American stations <Specialty cable channels 1 Info, govt, shopping 1 ' 1 Other language Total: 25 channels Cost: extended basic $20.00 Lucas Canadian stations 1• American stations Specialty cable channels Info, gov't, shopping Other language 1 Canadian stations American stations pecialty cable channels Info, gov't, shopping her language \, Total: 20 channels Cost: basic $17.50 Rogers, London Canadian stations American stations 'S laity cable channels Info, govt, shopping r Other language Total: 22 channels Total: 41 channels _-Cost: extended Cost: basic/service basic $19.00 S13.21 1 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 1 1 0 2 - . _ 4 . 6-----_ 10 0 2 4 - 6 8- 10 Complete manua and computer- ized buul keeping services Invoicing accounts receivable Payroll - accounts payable Job Costing - General ledger Budgets - Financial statements G.W. (Gerry) Parsons CMA G.W. Parsons & Associates Inc. 396 Main St., S., Exeter 2.35.1304 e. 1st, 2nd, Multi Family or Com mercial, flexible terms, fast, confidential service, Call."The Mortgage Mart" London - 433-6666 1-800-265-1508 WE GET RESULTS! Harvey L. Bierling Accountant Wishes to announce the relocation of his office to: 221 Main Street, Exeter Phone. 235-1424 new equipment to add channels, can be passed on to the consumer. The CRTC also prefers Canadian channels to be; on channels 2-13 when possible, which is why sub- scribers have seen American pro- gramming migrate up the dial into the superband. Ex-cen currently offers 30 channels to local sub- scribers, but Stinson says 60 chan- nels might be a future considera- tion. ' "Certainly, were going to have to look at it as services become availa- ble," he said, noting that so-called American superchannels like New York or Atlanta will be available to Canadians because of Free -Trade copyright laws. "Those are great channels," he said. CBC Newsworld has also been available for some time, but Stin- son is reluctant to add it to the line- up because the CRTC demands it be part of the basic service. "We don't necessarily agree with that philosophy," said Stinson. He said he prefers to give subscribers a choice whenever possible. he recent switch to a "dis- cretionary service" option Stinson rates as a success. Seventy-nine percent of Ex-Cen customers are paying the extra $2.95 for seven special cable channels, including TSN, Cable News, and Much Music. Customers with newer televisions maynotice none of these channels is available in stefeo - an° irony since four of them are music - oriented programming. Stinson says equipment for de- coding the full stereo signal from the satellite is prohibitively expen— sive. The only option is to simulate a stereo signal with a less expen- sive device, yielding a more spa- cious sound but not proper left and right stereo. Stinson said he gets the occa - sional complaint or inquiry about the lack of stereo sound. Only the local, off -air channels carry through with stereo on cable. "They (stereo TVs and VCRs) are going to become more and more popular. There will come a day when we will have to simulate it," suggested Stinson. Otherwise, he said, satellite re- ception has improved the cable in- dustry as a whole. Satellite receiv- ers eceiv ers are reliable, in all_ kinds of weather. "The satellite -certainly settled things down," said Stinson. Many people never notice if their phone is dead for 10 minutes, or won't worry about it. But if their cable goes out they are very quick to complain to their cable company, said Stinson. teve Ward at Mitchell- Seaforth Cable TV echoed Stinson's observations. He said distant channels used to be the troublesome ones, but with satellites, it's local reception that is more likely to fade in and out. Ward said his company was one of the first to use satellite dishes to serve villages like Hensall, Zurich, Grand Bend and Lucan. Grand Bend, he said, was hooked up last year and represented an expensive system for installation. With so few customers spread out over a large area, it means more cable and higher shared costs to subscribers. A seasonal rate for Grand Bend suggested when the system was in- stalled, didn't prove popular, so Mitchell-Seaforth are allowing cus- tomers to pay for only the months they want with a $10 reconnect charge each year. Ward says it's working. - Grand Bend is also unique be- cause cable TV customers can watch both CBC Toronto and Mon- treal, but there are no U.S. stations on channels 2-13 - again the CRTC's Canadian programming preference. Sometimes stations have to be moved around the dial. Ward says that makes customers unhappy, es- pecially when they find they need a convertor to receive any American stations. "You take a channel that was on two and move if to 26; well, they get really upset," said Ward, but conceded complaints are just a part of doing business. Ward said he is getting more calls about stereo reception, but as of yet, he has no plans to purchase the equipment to add it to the ser- vice. AO)b nether change in the way Acable is brought into the home is the future elimina- tion of descramblers for pay TV channels. The special channels can be filtered from recep- tion outside the home, or be al- lowed to pass through to subscrib- ers. Ward said many customers did not like pay TV because of the complicated arrangements needed to run televisions and VCRs through the extra electronic boxes. "It becomes a real nightmare of buttons and knobs," said Ward, adding that the new system behaves just like normal cable. Ward estimated that 35-40 per- cent of customers opt for pay tele- vision at the village level. "It's been fairly well accepted," he said-, adding there is a smaller market penetration in older cable systems like that in Mitchell, al- though he concedes First Choice costs more there. A11 cable operators are look- ing towards the future of their service. High Defini- tion Television, a higher quality system that will render all present televisions and VCRs obso- lete, is in the works. Fibre optic transmission may become part of that revolution and may also make pay television services more varied. Cable companies are also looking at the present 11 percent federal communications tax imposed on their subscription rates and are. wondering if it will be reduced to nine percent it 1991. Ward said he thought the government would find a way around reducing the rate by that time, suggesting television was to become a new victim of "sin tax", like tobacco, alcohol, and gas- oline. Comp -Account Computerized Accounting For small a medium sized busi- nesses. Private corporations, manufacturers • Financial statements and projections • Accounts receivable/ payable • Payroll • Complete management accounting and bookkeeping services Call Now - 262-3431 Highway 4 - Hensall ARE YOU INTERESTED IN RETIREMENT 1NVt51 MEi�i i i_ANN!NG INCOME TALC You aro invited to join us in a SPECIAL TATION uesdly, ptember 19 7:30 p.m. 9:30 p.m. Exeter Town (upper level) PRESEN Tuestl6vSe Hall 1 Please confirm your interest in advance by September 17 Andre Pettigrew MULTI MUTUAL INC. (519) 657-4499 (London) Back intime 10 years ago •Grand Bend's reeve Bob Sharen quit his post in the midst heated meeting discussing parking in the village. When some businessmen objected to the way council was handling the taxation for the costs of the new parking lot, Sharen told'them of tomorrow, you can find a new reeve." Sharen also cited reasons of incessant complaints and health lems as adding to his decision to leave the position. •Striking Bell Canada workers got a new contract and were heading back to work. . •According to statistics released by OMAF. Huron county contin- ued to lead the province in farm production. •Hensall was facing objections from Hay Township residents were opposed to the village's bid to annex portions of the township. The residents did not want to pay higher village taxes, lose their mail delivery and the busing of their children to school. 20 years ago •The Exeter Fair Board were hoping to cash in on an increased attendance for the event by moving it to a Friday and Saturday, the Wednesday and Thursday it had been for years. Reasons included the fact that local school children were previously unable to attend mid -week, nor could the increasing number of industrial workers town. •Officials of the Crediton United Church, which burned earlier in the year, opened its corner stone to reveal newspaper clippings from 1922, hymn books, Bibles, and keys to the original church of 1869. of a "As prob- who rural from in down c 1 of To few club than raw is the they and at they the S0 years ago •"Tit'! Polish defenders of Warsaw announced radio thi,s, morning that the German attackers M over their official had been definitely Reich on !behalf and Poland. this country knows little in the first the bowling the wren& on Friday, on front page for SI at the Exeter pounds of Every citizen ought to actuate show what be liule trouble exhibiting spirit ....Much a success and a little to make night watchman." ....A. _ ,_ •"Sept 10 -•The UominioriillCiiiia'>'b goal from which there can be no retreat with honor. Canada has taken up arms a:•: Inst the Gentian Great Britain, and all her peoples, on behalf of France help the persecuted of this world and fight for as •Nevertheless, life in Huron County changed dayaof war. The Exeter Fair was still going ahead, moved its weekly jitneydue to the sports night at and local broken bones still made bigger headlines sunken British ships. 100 years ago' •Twelve pounds of white sugar could be bought North General Store operated by 1. Matheson. Twenty sugar cost the same. •"Ere many days our Fall Fair will be here. interested in its success. A spirit of unanimity citizens in regard to the Fair. Our merchants should • can do when they set themselves to it. There may expense connected with merchants and manufacturers the Fair, but a wholesome pride and a little public depends on our businessmen to make the affair ought to be patriotic enough even to sacrific (sic) Fair a credit to Exeter." •"Blyth village has engaged the services of a • Times -Advocate, September 13,1989 Page 5 Cable TV - a tightrope of channels, wires and regulation By Adrian Harte DUBLIN, CLINTON - Canadi- ans were among the first in the world to be able to receive televi- sion signals off a wire to their homes instead of relying on an out- : door antenna. Cable television first became practical in the 1950s for cities with few local stations, but with enough population to support la cable service. By the mid-1970s, cable had come to smaller centres, like Exet- ' er, but many said it would never be economical enough to offer to sur- rounding villages. Today, nearly everyone who lives in a built-up area can hook up their television or VCR to their local cable tv service. "TV's a pretty important part of society these days," said Don Stin- son at Ex-Cen Cablevision in Clin- ton. The company provides identi- cal service to Exeter, Dashwood, Huron Park and Crediton: the cost varying according to the number of potential subscribers in each town. Cable companies operate under the strict regulation of the Canadian Radio Telecommunication Com- mission (CRTC). Stinson says his company is only allowed rate in- creases of up to 80 percent of the Consumer Price Index each year - meaning bills don't keep pace with inflation. Capital expenses, like Exeter What you get American stations `Speciah!I • cable channels ................................ Info, gov't, shopping Other language Total: 25 channels Cost: basic and discretionary $16.27 in Exeter, $ 18.45 in Dashwood and Crediton, $20.45 in Huron Parr For an overall view of cable televi- son service in this area, these graphs were created with the help of the cable companies to represent their channel listings. The listings of Rogers Cable TV in London was given for a comparison of what's available in a larger urban area. At first glance, it appears the local services all get eight Canadian sta- tions (except for Lucan's seven), and the four American networks, but the number of special cable -only chan- nels varies from•town to town. In fact, in Hensall and Zurich, TSN is still a separate pay charnel. The prices are given for compa- rable subscription packages with the special cable services, but do not include the 11 percent federal and 8 percent provincial taxes. With cable TV a near monopoly in each community, to get a different service, your only choice is to spend thousands on your own satellite dish... or move. Grand Bend Hensall 8( Zurich Canadian stations 1 American stations <Specialty cable channels 1 Info, govt, shopping 1 ' 1 Other language Total: 25 channels Cost: extended basic $20.00 Lucas Canadian stations 1• American stations Specialty cable channels Info, gov't, shopping Other language 1 Canadian stations American stations pecialty cable channels Info, gov't, shopping her language \, Total: 20 channels Cost: basic $17.50 Rogers, London Canadian stations American stations 'S laity cable channels Info, govt, shopping r Other language Total: 22 channels Total: 41 channels _-Cost: extended Cost: basic/service basic $19.00 S13.21 1 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 1 1 0 2 - . _ 4 . 6-----_ 10 0 2 4 - 6 8- 10 Complete manua and computer- ized buul keeping services Invoicing accounts receivable Payroll - accounts payable Job Costing - General ledger Budgets - Financial statements G.W. (Gerry) Parsons CMA G.W. Parsons & Associates Inc. 396 Main St., S., Exeter 2.35.1304 e. 1st, 2nd, Multi Family or Com mercial, flexible terms, fast, confidential service, Call."The Mortgage Mart" London - 433-6666 1-800-265-1508 WE GET RESULTS! Harvey L. Bierling Accountant Wishes to announce the relocation of his office to: 221 Main Street, Exeter Phone. 235-1424 new equipment to add channels, can be passed on to the consumer. The CRTC also prefers Canadian channels to be; on channels 2-13 when possible, which is why sub- scribers have seen American pro- gramming migrate up the dial into the superband. Ex-cen currently offers 30 channels to local sub- scribers, but Stinson says 60 chan- nels might be a future considera- tion. ' "Certainly, were going to have to look at it as services become availa- ble," he said, noting that so-called American superchannels like New York or Atlanta will be available to Canadians because of Free -Trade copyright laws. "Those are great channels," he said. CBC Newsworld has also been available for some time, but Stin- son is reluctant to add it to the line- up because the CRTC demands it be part of the basic service. "We don't necessarily agree with that philosophy," said Stinson. He said he prefers to give subscribers a choice whenever possible. he recent switch to a "dis- cretionary service" option Stinson rates as a success. Seventy-nine percent of Ex-Cen customers are paying the extra $2.95 for seven special cable channels, including TSN, Cable News, and Much Music. Customers with newer televisions maynotice none of these channels is available in stefeo - an° irony since four of them are music - oriented programming. Stinson says equipment for de- coding the full stereo signal from the satellite is prohibitively expen— sive. The only option is to simulate a stereo signal with a less expen- sive device, yielding a more spa- cious sound but not proper left and right stereo. Stinson said he gets the occa - sional complaint or inquiry about the lack of stereo sound. Only the local, off -air channels carry through with stereo on cable. "They (stereo TVs and VCRs) are going to become more and more popular. There will come a day when we will have to simulate it," suggested Stinson. Otherwise, he said, satellite re- ception has improved the cable in- dustry as a whole. Satellite receiv- ers eceiv ers are reliable, in all_ kinds of weather. "The satellite -certainly settled things down," said Stinson. Many people never notice if their phone is dead for 10 minutes, or won't worry about it. But if their cable goes out they are very quick to complain to their cable company, said Stinson. teve Ward at Mitchell- Seaforth Cable TV echoed Stinson's observations. He said distant channels used to be the troublesome ones, but with satellites, it's local reception that is more likely to fade in and out. Ward said his company was one of the first to use satellite dishes to serve villages like Hensall, Zurich, Grand Bend and Lucan. Grand Bend, he said, was hooked up last year and represented an expensive system for installation. With so few customers spread out over a large area, it means more cable and higher shared costs to subscribers. A seasonal rate for Grand Bend suggested when the system was in- stalled, didn't prove popular, so Mitchell-Seaforth are allowing cus- tomers to pay for only the months they want with a $10 reconnect charge each year. Ward says it's working. - Grand Bend is also unique be- cause cable TV customers can watch both CBC Toronto and Mon- treal, but there are no U.S. stations on channels 2-13 - again the CRTC's Canadian programming preference. Sometimes stations have to be moved around the dial. Ward says that makes customers unhappy, es- pecially when they find they need a convertor to receive any American stations. "You take a channel that was on two and move if to 26; well, they get really upset," said Ward, but conceded complaints are just a part of doing business. Ward said he is getting more calls about stereo reception, but as of yet, he has no plans to purchase the equipment to add it to the ser- vice. AO)b nether change in the way Acable is brought into the home is the future elimina- tion of descramblers for pay TV channels. The special channels can be filtered from recep- tion outside the home, or be al- lowed to pass through to subscrib- ers. Ward said many customers did not like pay TV because of the complicated arrangements needed to run televisions and VCRs through the extra electronic boxes. "It becomes a real nightmare of buttons and knobs," said Ward, adding that the new system behaves just like normal cable. Ward estimated that 35-40 per- cent of customers opt for pay tele- vision at the village level. "It's been fairly well accepted," he said-, adding there is a smaller market penetration in older cable systems like that in Mitchell, al- though he concedes First Choice costs more there. A11 cable operators are look- ing towards the future of their service. High Defini- tion Television, a higher quality system that will render all present televisions and VCRs obso- lete, is in the works. Fibre optic transmission may become part of that revolution and may also make pay television services more varied. Cable companies are also looking at the present 11 percent federal communications tax imposed on their subscription rates and are. wondering if it will be reduced to nine percent it 1991. Ward said he thought the government would find a way around reducing the rate by that time, suggesting television was to become a new victim of "sin tax", like tobacco, alcohol, and gas- oline. Comp -Account Computerized Accounting For small a medium sized busi- nesses. Private corporations, manufacturers • Financial statements and projections • Accounts receivable/ payable • Payroll • Complete management accounting and bookkeeping services Call Now - 262-3431 Highway 4 - Hensall ARE YOU INTERESTED IN RETIREMENT 1NVt51 MEi�i i i_ANN!NG INCOME TALC You aro invited to join us in a SPECIAL TATION uesdly, ptember 19 7:30 p.m. 9:30 p.m. Exeter Town (upper level) PRESEN Tuestl6vSe Hall 1 Please confirm your interest in advance by September 17 Andre Pettigrew MULTI MUTUAL INC. (519) 657-4499 (London)