Todays Special DVD North American Release

This is very unlikely to ever happen.

1. The petitions are impotent given their numbers totaling fewer than 2,000.
2. More importantly, given the transitions to take place over the next two years, bringing such a program to DVD is not at all in the priorities of TVO.

I would refrain from using the word "negative" (its use being vague) to describe this position. I've seen its use by one user throughout this forum

A simple analysis reviewing TVOs mandate for the next two years and the province of Ontario's current and near term ability to fund this public institution makes it rather apparent that in the short run (2-3 years) that such an expectation is unreasonable.

Television, like other traditional media (radio and print media) are going through the greatest transition in half a century and the most difficult in a century.

More realistically is the digital conversion of media to on-line content. This is perhaps where one may find archived programs eventually, however given the decades of content, this may take some time and funding (perhaps a decade given adequate funding). It has taken the CBC years just to put together some of the most significant footage of the past 80 years to on-line access. I would be curious to know the cost and traffic to date of that portion of the CBC site.

Currently, TVO has some phenomenal programming. More than half of TVOs broadcasting schedule is dedicated towards children's programing with supplemental on-line programing on TVOkids. Much of this is fulfilling their second stage mandate to create on-line content (their primary focus was to upgrade their equipment to prepare for the 2011 digital broadcasting conversion). Their evening and weekend program schedule seems rather archaic and have been for years, with the exception of The Agenda (formerly Studio2), In Conversation, Big Ideas and Saturday Night at the Movies.

It was mentioned that TVO was contacted regarding archived programs somewhere on this forum and the response was that this content was erased. This sounds erroneous. Querying TVO through their general contacts may not result in the most accurate of responses but rather generic or assumed.. Finding the right avenues takes a few minutes. I would rather spare those parties the time wasted in replying to such inquiries.

Regardless, if anyone out there has tried digitizing their home movie collection, you'll know that this is no simple task, especially if some of that content is not readable due to deterioration of media. It is not a simple 1:1 time cost formula. There are search costs, testing, setup costs, transfer time, repairs, troubleshooting and then conversion if all goes well. The costs are likely higher for DVD conversion. Expect a DVD to be priced exceedingly high given the high production costs and limited demand if this were ever to be authorized.

Deferring to TVO's mandate as a public institution here http://www.tvo.org/cfmx/tvoorg/about/, its mandate is to serve the public as best it can given its limited resources. To invest in a program that will not return sufficient dividends (education or financing) is irresponsible.

If TVO wishes to rebroadcast the program in its original form, that may be their right. To produce DVD content for programs >20 years old (name it: Today's Special, Green Forest, Polk-a-Dot Door, Dear Aunt Agnes, Edison Twins, etc.) is resource intensive for a public institution, especially one that recently has been rumoured (again) to be under review for privatization. To lose such a public institution that has evolved to such a state with its current portfolio of programs would be greatly disappointing.

Dan.