TAGGED AS PICK-AND-PAY
Skinny basic uptake at 12%: MTM
Media | 08/18/2017 12:13 pm EDT
Slightly more than one-tenth of Canadian adults have signed up for the CRTC-mandated skinny-basic TV packages since they were introduced last year, suggests a new Media Technology Monitor report.
The report, released Thursday, from the CBC/Radio-Canada research project, said 12 per cent of Canadians have taken advantage of the basic cable packages that have to be $25 or less, despite fairly high awareness (57 per cent said they knew about them).
“Once additional channels and technology rentals are added to the...
CRTC calls for comments on VOD, discretionary service dispute tool
Media | 08/04/2017 1:13 pm EDT
The CRTC is asking for feedback on whether it should add dispute-resolution provisions to its newly created Discretionary Services Regulations. In a call for consultations posted Friday, the regulator said the new single set of regulations, which merges a pair of regulations governing pay TV and specialty services that reflect the Let’s Talk TV framework — posted in a separate decision Friday that come into force on Sept. 1 — include a mechanism for disputes between broadcasting...
STB data measurement complex task, group says
Media | 06/30/2017 2:23 pm EDT
Activity by a working group tasked with studying the implementation of an audience measurement system via...
Bell can’t limit TV customers to one custom package: CRTC
Media | 06/02/2017 1:08 pm EDT
Allowing customers to only select TV channels à la carte after they’ve taken advantage of one 10-channel small package doesn’t comply with the CRTC’s pick-and-pay rules, BCE Inc. was told....
CRTC to review pick-and-pay rollout in Oct.
Media | 05/18/2017 5:07 pm EDT
The CRTC will hold a hearing on a number of broadcast distribution undertakings’ [BDUs] licence renewal...
Telus intros $20, no contract IPTV service
Media | 04/21/2017 7:13 pm EDT
Telus Corp. has quietly launched an IPTV service that will allow subscribers to watch live TV and on-demand content for $20 a month with no contract. The box itself, which is powered by Alphabet Inc.’s Android,...
Pick-and-pay won’t tempt consumers to switch or subscribe: RBC
Media | 12/05/2016 6:26 pm EST
The pick-and-pay options launched by Canada’s TV providers last week aren’t likely to appeal to either current subscribers or those without traditional TV service, according RBC Capital Markets’ Drew McReynolds. McReynolds said in a note Friday that similarly “to the launch of skinny basic and the pricing of small packages, we believe à la carte pricing largely incentivizes households to keep existing packages.” TV providers were required to begin offering subscriptions to individual TV channels on Dec. 1, as part of...
Pick-and-pay still has many ‘pitfalls’ for consumers: PIAC
Media | 12/01/2016 10:24 pm EST
As the CRTC’s rules requiring all TV providers to allow customers to sign up for channels individually came into effect Thursday, the regulator emphasized that consumers have to take...
Companies launching pick-and-pay ahead of new rules
Media | 11/30/2016 9:21 pm EST
Rogers Communications Inc. and Cogeco Inc. have introduced their line-up of stand-alone TV channels a day ahead of the CRTC’s deadline requiring them to do so. The cost for individual channels with Rogers...
Skinny basic best practices not enough to ‘scare’ BDUs: PIAC
Media | 11/21/2016 9:50 pm EST
The best practices for TV service providers offering skinny-basic cable packages announced by the CRTC Monday don’t amount to much more than lip service, with no real consequences for...
Videotron offering full pick-and-pay
Media | 11/18/2016 9:43 pm EST
Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron said in a press release Thursday it’s now making all of its TV channels available on a pick-and-pay basis. The move means the company is “fully meeting the new CRTC...
Cord-cutting accelerates despite skinny basic: Boon Dog
telecom | 11/07/2016 7:12 pm EST
The introduction of skinny-basic TV package offerings doesn’t seem to have slowed down the trend toward cord-cutting in Canada, according to subscriber number data reported by Canada’s...
Wireline competition, pick-and-pay could pressure telecoms in 2017: Canaccord
telecom | 09/20/2016 3:46 pm EDT
Certain events leading into 2017 could spell increased pressure on telecommunications companies, but there’s “not much to be excited about” otherwise, according to Canaccord Genuity....
PIAC says customers need better skinny basic info
Media | 09/08/2016 9:12 pm EDT
GATINEAU — On the final day of a two-day hearing, consumer groups told a CRTC panel that the regulator should set standards for how companies present information about their skinny-basic packages, while CRTC commissioner...
CRTC grills telecoms on skinny basic promotion, bundling
Media | 09/08/2016 1:01 am EDT
GATINEAU — A CRTC panel pressed Canada's largest TV service providers on whether they were doing enough to bring attention to new skinny-basic services, raising concerns that higher-tier...
CRTC skinny basic hearing ‘premature,’ telecoms say
Media | 09/06/2016 9:10 pm EDT
As the CRTC is set to look into the implementation of its skinny basic TV package rules by industry, telecoms are arguing the proceeding is largely premature, given that the commission’s skinny basic regime still hasn’t been fully implemented. Beginning Wednesday, the regulator will hold a hearing with four companies —Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron, Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. — and consumer groups to get an idea of how the industry has complied with the skinny-basic rules. “We believe that it is...
177,000 Canadians subscribe to skinny basic: CRTC
Media | 09/02/2016 8:16 pm EDT
GATINEAU — As of June 30, about 177,000 TV subscribers had a skinny basic package, according to information given to media at a CRTC technical briefing Friday. That was four months after the CRTC mandated that TV providers...
Cable providers readying for full pick-and-pay with theme packs
Media | 08/23/2016 9:24 pm EDT
Some companies are adding more selection to their cable TV packages by going the theme-pack route in preparation for the mandatory full pick-and-pay rules coming into effect this winter. The CRTC...
Anglophone TV subs fall to 73%: MTM
Media | 06/17/2016 9:12 pm EDT
The number of anglophones subscribing to TV service continues to fall, according to a new report by Media Technology Monitor (MTM), a project of CBC/Radio-Canada. In the spring of 2016, 73 per cent subscribed to TV...
Set-top box provider appealing temporary ban
Media | 06/15/2016 7:49 pm EDT
A federal court judge erred in her determination that allowing a group of five companies to continue selling pre-loaded set-top boxes would pose “irreparable harm” to TV service providers, according to court documents...
Shomi, Crave in fewer than 1M households: SRG
Media | 06/14/2016 9:15 pm EDT
Solutions Research Group Consultants Inc. estimates fewer than one million Canadian households are currently subscribers to BCE Inc.’s CraveTV and Rogers Communications Inc.’s and Shaw Communications Inc.’s Shomi. In a summary of spring edition of its Digital Life Canada report, SRG said awareness among Canadians of the streaming services is growing, with 48 per cent of respondents saying they’ve heard of Shomi and 44 per cent saying they’ve heard of Crave. However, adoption “continues to lag far behind awareness,” with four...
Rogers proposes ‘not-for-profit’ national OMNI channel
Media | 06/14/2016 9:12 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. is changing tack with its beleaguered OMNI ethnic stations, announcing Tuesday it’s applied for a licence for a national ethnic channel, which it asked the CRTC to...
Pick-and-pay drives customer satisfaction: J.D. Power
Media | 06/03/2016 3:26 pm EDT
A new J.D. Power survey has found customers who have a skinny-basic TV package with a pick-and-pay option are more satisfied than TV customers with other types of subscriptions. Satisfaction among skinny-basic customers was 761...
Four telecoms singled out for skinny-basic hearing
Media | 05/24/2016 9:36 pm EDT
The CRTC said Tuesday it will hold a hearing on the implementation of skinny basic TV packages, though it only asked four companies — BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Shaw Communications Inc.,...
CRTC to launch consultation on skinny basic rollout
Media | 05/13/2016 7:19 pm EDT
The CRTC will issue a notice of consultation on how telecom companies carried out its skinny basic TV package rules later this month. Spokeswoman Patricia Valladao said in an email Friday the commission had asked TV providers, as...
Rogers to launch IPTV by end of the year
telecom | 04/20/2016 8:19 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. will be launching an IPTV service by the end of the year, Guy Laurence, the company’s CEO, confirmed Tuesday during Rogers’ annual general meeting of shareholders held in Toronto....
Customers say skinny basic not worthwhile: study
Media | 04/15/2016 4:57 pm EDT
More than 66,000 Canadians have signed up for a skinny-basic TV package since its rollout on March 1, according to the CRTC. In a Friday press release, the regulator said a third of those who signed up also took...
Exec cites ‘tipping point’ in customer demand as Sportsnet goes OTT
Media | 03/31/2016 10:46 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. will begin offering its Sportsnet channels without a TV subscription for $24.99 per month, the company announced Thursday. Scott Moore, president of Sportsnet and NHL...
CRTC tells CCTS to step up enforcement, ‘naming and shaming’
Media | 03/17/2016 9:09 pm EDT
In addition to expanding the mandate of the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) Thursday to include TV service, the CRTC told the organization to make more use of...
Telecoms’ TV customer losses up five-fold in 2015
telecom | 03/10/2016 10:22 pm EST
The number of subscribers leaving the Canadian TV system appears to be accelerating, as Canada’s publicly traded telecom companies lost five times more TV subscribers in 2015 than a year earlier. They reported having 178,910 fewer television customers at the end of 2015 than at the end of 2014, according to data compiled by The Wire Report based on the companies’ fourth-quarter statements. That’s compared to the previous year’s 31,663 drop, the first on record. Overall, the number of TV subscribers reported by BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Shaw...
As skinny basic arrives, experts doubt consumer appeal
Media | 03/01/2016 9:41 pm EST
On the day Canadian TV providers were required to make their skinny basic options available to consumers, experts expressed skepticism about how many Canadians will sign up for the new offers and...
Bell releases skinny basic offer, no U.S. networks included
Media | 02/29/2016 7:32 pm EST
A day before the March 1 deadline, BCE Inc. is advertising its skinny basic offer, a $24.95 Starter package. Last spring, the CRTC mandated that TV providers must offer a basic package priced at no...
Bell playing skinny basic plan close to the vest: report
Media | 02/26/2016 9:44 pm EST
BCE Inc. is keeping mum in the wake of a media report claiming the company is telling staff to downplay its upcoming skinny basic TV offering. On Friday, CBC reported that an internal training...
Rogers to offer $3-$18 theme packs with skinny basic
Media | 02/25/2016 8:34 pm EST
Rogers Communications Inc.’s $24.99 skinny basic offer will include the U.S. "4+1” networks ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and PBS, and its theme packages will cost between $3 and $18. Rogers spokeswoman Jennifer Kett sent...
Shaw launches skinny basic package
telecom | 02/18/2016 4:53 pm EST
Shaw Communications Inc. announced Wednesday it has launched its skinny basic TV package, called Limited TV. The package, along with new small theme packs that can be combined with existing TV packages, is now available for purchase, Chethan Lakshman, vice-president of external affairs at Shaw, said in an email Thursday. Limited TV is priced at $25 per month, according to Shaw’s website, and includes the U.S. "4+1" networks ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and PBS. The CRTC made their inclusion optional when it issued its new pick-and-pay rules, as a result of which TV providers are...
CRTC won’t change course despite appeals, criticism: Blais
Media | 02/17/2016 11:05 pm EST
CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said Wednesday the CRTC will stick to the course of action it has set despite disapproval by those who feel the CRTC’s direction “upsets their entitlements...
CRTC extends deadline in Shaw-Corus consultation
Media | 02/11/2016 6:48 pm EST
The CRTC said Thursday it has extended the deadline in its consultation on Shaw Communications Inc.’s sale of its media division to Corus Entertainment Inc. to Feb. 18....
CRTC asks Bell, Rogers, Shaw, Quebecor to renew TV licences
Media | 02/08/2016 8:38 pm EST
The CRTC said Monday that BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Shaw Communications Inc. and Quebecor Inc. should apply to renew their TV licences that will expire in...
TV advertising needs better metrics, execs say
Media | 02/04/2016 10:21 pm EST
While advertising will remain a key part of the TV ecosystem, the television industry will have to provide better audience data in order to keep up with digital competition, said Barbara Williams, president of Shaw Communications...
Growth in telecom to lag behind economy: Conference Board
Media | 02/03/2016 10:48 pm EST
According to the Conference Board of Canada, high debt levels and weak job prospects will make it difficult for Canadians to increase spending on telecom services in 2016, limiting industry growth. A...
SaskTel launches skinny-basic package
Media | 02/02/2016 5:40 pm EST
Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. launched its skinny-basic TV package Monday, priced at the $25 maximum mandated by the CRTC, SaskTel spokeswoman Michelle Englot said in an email. Customers can pay extra for...
CRTC news fund proposal would ‘gut’ community TV: Cogeco
Media | 01/27/2016 10:14 pm EST
Cogeco Communications Inc. told a CRTC hearing Wednesday that a plan the commission proposed to create a new fund for local TV news programming, to be funded by existing financial resources within the...
Bell, Channel Zero tell CRTC local TV needs help
Media | 01/26/2016 12:57 am EST
GATINEAU — The first day of the CRTC’s hearing on local and community television painted a picture of traditional TV in flux, as operators of conventional stations said declining ad revenue is making local TV...
CACTUS complaints result in 4 CRTC proceedings
Media | 01/25/2016 4:45 pm EST
The CRTC has grouped 61 complaints by the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) into four Part 1 proceedings, giving Shaw Communications Inc., Cogeco Cable Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., and Eastlink until April 15 to respond. CACTUS has until May 5 to reply to those responses, the CRTC said on its website. The complaints are regarding community channels being in non-compliance with regulatory requirements, it said. CACTUS said earlier this month that it filed complaints with the CRTC because most cable community...
Bell denied requests to switch Category A channels to B
Media | 01/18/2016 5:33 pm EST
The CRTC has denied BCE Inc. applications to have eight Category A channels changed to Category B channels, which would have reduced the requirements for Canadian content on these channels. The...
TV regulatory changes could cost 15,000 jobs: report
telecom | 01/05/2016 4:15 pm EST
New CRTC regulatory changes from the Let’s Talk TV decisions could lead to a loss of more than 15,000 Canadian jobs and take $1.4 billion from the Canadian economy annually by 2020, according to a new report released Tuesday...
Bell denied request for relief on original-content condition
Media | 12/16/2015 5:00 pm EST
The CRTC has denied a request by BCE Inc.'s Bell Media division to delete a condition of licence for its French-language specialty channel Vrak.TV that requires it to show 104 hours of original,...
Broadcasters advised to ‘pick their winners’ as pick-and-pay approaches
Media | 11/27/2015 9:58 pm EST
As the Canadian TV industry approaches an era where customers have more choice over the channels they subscribe to, large broadcasters should “pick their winners” and consolidate into a...
Connectivity beats content in telecom/media sector: report
Media | 11/03/2015 8:24 pm EST
The notion that "content is king" is challenged in a new report that points out that connectivity services take in significantly more revenue than content providers in Canada and have seen more growth in recent decades. The Canadian Media Concentration Research Project, led by Carleton University communications professor Dwayne Winseck, released on Tuesday what it said was the first in a series of reports that analyzes trends in the entire "network media economy" in Canada between 1984 and 2014. It looks at everything from content such as TV, radio, newspapers and...
B.C. provider offers skinny-basic TV
Media | 11/03/2015 2:54 pm EST
Mascon, a small telecom service provider in British Columbia, announced Monday that it is now offering a skinny-basic TV package for $20 a month, getting a head-start on the CRTC requirement that packages for no more than $25 a...
Are stars aligning for Shaw sale to Rogers?
Media | 11/02/2015 9:35 pm EST
The idea of a merger between Canada's two biggest cable providers — Shaw Communications Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. — is on the radar again, with at least two market analysts saying the conditions are right...
Federal election unlikely to change telecom policy: Huang
telecom | 10/05/2015 2:42 pm EDT
Barclays Capital analyst Phillip Huang said in a research note Monday that, despite the uncertain outcome of this month's federal election, a significant change in policy with regard to...
Pick-and-pay TV prices could reduce cord cutting, say experts
Media | 10/02/2015 8:43 pm EDT
Prices for TV subscriptions in the coming pick-and-pay era will be one of the main factors determining how over-the-top (OTT) video services are affected, say experts, noting that competitive pricing...
Production sector must understand telecom: new CMPA boss
Media | 09/11/2015 4:20 pm EDT
As the telecommunications and media industries continue to converge, the production sector must pay more attention to what were traditionally considered telecom issues, according to Reynolds Mastin,...
Shaw says national news-channel plans on hold
telecom | 09/10/2015 8:13 pm EDT
Shaw Communications Inc. has put on hold plans to establish a national news channel in the wake of changes in the television regulatory environment over the last year, a company official said Thursday. "The application...
Canadian OTT startup looks to take on the world
Media | 08/17/2015 8:01 pm EDT
An emerging Canadian provider of over-the-top (OTT) video content hopes that reaching viewers around the world, and particularly those with very specific interests, translates into keys to success in the fast-changing television...
CRTC consulting on some Talk TV decisions
Media | 07/09/2015 8:43 pm EDT
The CRTC has opened a consultation on a number of decisions it made as part of its Let's Talk TV review of television services ahead of making official changes to its broadcasting regulations to include them. It is consulting...
CMF to go on cross-country consultation
Media | 06/30/2015 6:33 pm EDT
The Canadian Media Fund (CMF) said Tuesday it will be going across the country for a consultation process this fall. It said in a press release that the consultation process will include several components, including focus groups in 18 different cities across all provinces and territories, and industry working groups. Some of the topics that will be discussed by CMF stakeholders during this consultation include shifts in consumption habits, market conditions and the impact on CMF’s funding programs due to the CRTC’s television regulatory changes, the release said....
New OTT options tempting TV consumers: study
Media | 06/25/2015 4:18 pm EDT
A new study from Digitalsmiths, a subsidiary of TiVo Inc., shows almost 60 per cent of TV-service customers in Canada and the U.S. are spending more than $100 US a month for their subscriptions, and about one in four are...
Rogers’ hockey content brings Sportsnet neck-to-neck with TSN
Media | 06/02/2015 9:22 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. both used Numeris data Tuesday to proclaim their sports channel is No. 1 in the market, a virtual tie that Rogers said was enabled by its hockey content....
Keith Pelley leaving Rogers this summer
Media | 04/17/2015 3:36 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. said Friday that Keith Pelley will leave as president of the company's media division this summer to take over as CEO of the PGA European Tour. Pelley was appointed president of Rogers Media in...
Kosiner looking for piece of TV music market
Media | 04/15/2015 4:14 pm EDT
A 27-year-old entrepreneur wants to offer an alternative to what he calls a monopoly in the market for audio music channels offered through TV service providers in Canada. Evan Kosiner, president and owner of Kosiner Venture...
Kevin Crull out as Bell Media boss
Media | 04/09/2015 8:52 pm EDT
BCE Inc. said Thursday that Kevin Crull is out as president of its Bell Media division, and a press release appeared to link Crull's ousting to his recent conflict with news staff over coverage of the CRTC's decision on TV-channel unbundling. Bell CEO George Cope said in the release that "Kevin Crull departs Bell with our thanks for his contributions to our customers and shareholders,” noting achievements such as the integration of Astral Media and the launch of CraveTV. Yet Cope added that “the independence of Bell Media's news operations is of paramount...
News channels face funding challenges after CRTC decision
Media | 04/01/2015 8:22 pm EDT
Canada’s national news channels face new obligations from the CRTC even as the regulator is taking away their place on basic cable, raising questions about their future finances. Last month, as...
Telecoms will adjust to pick-and-pay regime, analysts say
Media | 03/20/2015 9:10 pm EDT
Financial analysts reacting to the CRTC’s new pick-and-pay rules say they don’t expect the decision to have a major impact on the industry, though the broadcasting side of the business is...
CRTC decisions, new streaming services top TV agenda for 2015
Media | 12/17/2014 12:50 pm EST
It seems all eyes are on the two newest services in the Canadian TV industry. This fall, the country’s biggest telecom and media companies launched streaming services meant to compete with...
Mulcair denounces Glover statements on Netflix regulation
Media | 10/08/2014 8:11 pm EDT
OTTAWA — NDP Leader Tom Mulcair on Wednesday denounced Heritage Minister Shelly Glover's statements that ruled out regulation for online video services such as Netflix and YouTube, which...
C.D. Howe warns against pick-and-pay TV
Media | 09/25/2014 6:15 pm EDT
The C.D. Howe Institute released a report on Thursday that said the CRTC's proposal to mandate pick-and-pay television is "deeply misguided" and would be "irrelevant at best" and "harmful at...
Rogers VP predicts end of TV broadcasting, as we know it
Media | 09/11/2014 11:09 pm EDT
GATINEAU, Que. — You can’t assume that young people who have never had subscription-TV service will eventually get it, Ken Engelhart, Rogers Communications Inc.’s vice-president of...
Regulating OTT could set ‘dangerous precedent’: Google
Media | 09/08/2014 9:37 pm EDT
GATINEAU, Que. — A move by the CRTC to regulate over-the-top (OTT) video platforms could set a precedent for regulators in other countries, a Google Inc. lawyer told the commission on the first...
Shaw lobbying federal officials ahead of CRTC TV review
Media | 08/25/2014 2:15 pm EDT
Shaw Communications Inc. is stepping up its lobbying ahead of the CRTC’s Let’s Talk TV hearing in September, meeting with various MPs in their ridings as well senior public servants in...
Watchdog warns pick-and-pay would hurt economy
Media | 08/22/2014 8:42 pm EDT
Friends of Canadian Broadcasting warned Friday that adopting proposals for reform of the television industry such as pick-and-pay, as put forward by the CRTC, could cost the economy tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars. The advocacy group based their warning on a study done by broadcasting consultant Peter Miller, which was conducted for Friends and other groups, including the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) and Canadian Media Guild (CMG), and presented to the CRTC for consideration in the...
CRTC gives public another chance for TV comment
Media | 08/21/2014 4:32 pm EDT
The CRTC is giving the public another chance to make its views known in the review of the national television industry through an online forum, and it has also narrowed down its priorities for discussion to four general areas....
Penetration-based pricing biggest barrier to pick-and-pay: analyst
Media | 07/09/2014 1:51 pm EDT
The biggest challenge standing in the way of a pick-and-pay TV system is the current penetration-based rate card regime, Scotia Capital telecom analyst Jeff Fan said in a research note....
Service providers support TV choice, but not to extent suggested
Media | 06/27/2014 9:25 pm EDT
In interventions submitted as part of the CRTC’s review of the future of the television, both BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. said they supported a pick-and-pay television system, though...
CRTC delays deadline for TV-review comments till Friday
Media | 06/23/2014 8:27 pm EDT
The CRTC said Monday it is extending the deadline for submitting comments in the third phase of its Let's Talk TV proceedings until Friday. The deadline had previously been set for Wednesday. A...
Public backs heavy CRTC hand in TV service: survey
Media | 06/19/2014 3:07 pm EDT
The CRTC has the backing of the general public if it decides to get into regulating the prices people pay for television service, according to a new survey. A poll done by Forum Research, released in advance to The Wire Report, shows that 79 per cent of respondents agree with the idea of the CRTC getting back into the practice of regulating cable and satellite fees, while 60 per cent "strongly" agree. The survey found that 80 per cent of respondents agreed with using regulations to limit TV-service prices to no more than the rate of inflation, and 58 per cent "strongly"...
Canadian TV packages more flexible than in U.S.: study
Media | 06/06/2014 7:04 pm EDT
A report appearing on the CRTC's website Friday indicated that Canadian television service providers are offering more choice and flexibility than ones in the United States in selected markets....
Price hikes for sports in pick-and-pay ‘big concern’: CMPA lawyer
Media | 05/01/2014 9:14 pm EDT
OTTAWA — The CRTC would be unlikely to intervene if a move to pick-and-pay television caused price increases, said Reynolds Martin, chief negotiator and chief legal officer at the Canadian Media...
CRTC backs pick-and-pay while acknowledging ‘risks’
Media | 04/24/2014 6:07 pm EDT
The CRTC has officially endorsed a move toward pick-and-pay television, though it has admitted the transition to such a model is unlikely to be pain-free. The commission proposed in a report Thursday...
Canadians willing to pay for more TV choice: survey
Media | 03/19/2014 6:02 pm EDT
A majority of Canadians taking part in a survey, for which results were released Tuesday, said having more choice and control over what they watch on television is an “excellent” or “good” idea. The...
Phase 2 of CRTC TV review asks about OTT regulation
Media | 02/18/2014 10:22 pm EST
The CRTC is asking Canadians for feedback about Canadian content in online television services and their adherence to programming standards in an online questionnaire released Tuesday as part of Phase 2 of its review of television...
CRTC chair says he shares ‘philosophy’ with James Moore
telecom | 01/16/2014 6:27 pm EST
CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said in a magazine article that hits newsstands Monday that he and Industry Minister James Moore share a similar “philosophy” about consumer affordability...
‘Penetration-based’ subscription rates needed in pick-and-pay regime: experts
Media | 01/08/2014 8:16 pm EST
Carriage negotiations between broadcasters and the broadcast distributors who deliver their channels to consumers will focus on finding the right “penetration-based” price rates in a...
Cogeco to launch pick-and-pay TV outside Quebec next year: Audet
Media | 11/28/2013 10:02 pm EST
MONTREAL—When Cogeco Inc. introduced its pick-and-pay cable-TV offering in Quebec a decade ago, it had to find a balance between profitability and satisfying customers, and the challenge will be...
NHL deal to help Rogers in pick-and-pay regime: analysts
Media | 11/26/2013 10:01 pm EST
Rogers Communications Inc.’s new 12-year deal for the broadcast and multi-platform rights to National Hockey League games is a $5.2-billion bet that Canadians will pay to maintain access to NHL games if they’re forced to choose between costly sports specialty channels in a future pick-and-pay environment, industry analysts said. In a release Tuesday, Rogers said it reached a deal with the NHL that will give Rogers-owned broadcast stations the TV and multi-platform distribution rights to all nationally televised NHL games starting in the 2014-2015 season and running through...
Government to wait for CRTC report before making decisions on pick-and-pay, Glover says
Media | 11/15/2013 1:07 am EST
The federal government will wait to see the results of a CRTC report on how best to implement a pick-and-pay television model before deciding whether to get involved in the...
Moore encouraged Blais to tackle consumer issues at CRTC
telecom | 11/05/2013 7:40 pm EST
Then-heritage minister James Moore told incoming CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais in an introductory letter last year that he would like to see the commission “comprehensively address consumer...
CRTC dives into TV review, says public complaining about channel packaging
Media | 10/24/2013 7:10 pm EDT
The CRTC officially launched its public consultation on television services, asking the public for input into questions related to the Conservative government’s promise to unbundle television...
Tories pledge TV unbundling, more rural broadband, no paper billing fees
telecom | 10/16/2013 10:05 pm EDT
The Conservative government said it will reduce wireless roaming fees, enhance rural broadband accessibility and unbundle TV providers’ channel packages as part of a series of pledges to protect...
Want pick-and-pay? You may end up paying $9 for TSN, consultant says
Media | 10/15/2013 9:12 pm EDT
If TV subscribers are about to receive individual channels on a pick-and-pay basis, as the Conservative government says it will mandate, they may be surprised at the standalone pricing for some of their favourite channels. Broadcast consultant and former CRTC commissioner Michel Arpin said that for an idea of the cost of individual channels with high-value programming like sports or movies, observers may want to look at current standalone pricing for pay channels like The Movie Network (owned...
A la carte would drop U.S. TV revenues almost 50%: analyst
Media | 07/17/2013 7:35 pm EDT
The American television industry's annual revenues of $150 billion US would be cut nearly in half if broadcast distributors moved to an a la carte model, said a report by research firm Needham...