Bell ExpressVu targeting cable analog customers for second wave of growth

Bell ExpressVu LP is taking dead aim at acquiring current analog cable subscribers with new user friendly channel packaging and lower entry-level pricing, as well as new dual tuner receivers. The company has simplified its channel lineup, introduced the new Digital Standard TV channel package priced at $25 a month, and is offering digital receivers that can service more than one TV in a household. "We’ve had seven years in the first wave of growth, and the company is ready to go after a large segment of customers – the 60% base who are analog customers. Simply put, in the past perhaps we haven’t communicated the message entirely to them and packaged the content in a way they want," Robert Odendaal, president of Bell Video Group, tells Canadian Communications Reports. He adds that the $25 a month package is aimed at the analog TV customer. The package offers more than 100 digital TV and audio channels, free time shifting on Canadian networks, no extra fees for service access or multiple receivers, and enhanced services such as the Game Galaxy interactive TV portal. Previously, Bell Express Vu charged a multiple receiver fee of $4.99 a month per receiver and a $2.99 access fee per month, both of which have been eliminated. With these fees dropped, it is now cheaper for a customer looking for a basic TV package on Bell ExpressVu, although the new package has fewer channels than its previous $36-a-month Digital Advantage starter package. "Historically, there has been a large base of customers that we haven’t really targeted and that’s why we introduced the $25 per month entry-level package for them (analog customers). In fact, it’s $22 in Quebec," Odendaal notes. "We’re not simply discounting our prices. If that had been our intention, we would have done it very, very differently. What we’ve done is that we’ve taken the 400-plus services and we’ve carved them up in a completely different way than they used to be allocated. It offers all the benefits of having an entry-level package, with the buy through you get on digital such as pay-per-view (PPV), and information services on demand." Odendaal doesn’t feel that existing Bell ExpressVu customers will downgrade to the new Digital Standard package because they have become used to consuming certain types of services. "We see it as more likely that the new people taking the entry-level package will upgrade as they start to know the services that they’d like to take. We’re appealing to the 55% to 60% analog (cable) customers and allowing them to see what’s on offer in digital and for them to see what they like, and they may trade up," he says. Analog cable TV has been an attractive option for many customers because it allows them to keep viewing the analog channels on second and third TV sets in the household. With Bell ExpressVu’s digital TV service, people used to need a set-top box for each TV in the household. Bell has made moves to eliminate that cable advantage by removing its second-set fees, and also by introducing two new digital receivers that can deliver TV programming to multiple TVs in a single household. The 5200 PVR Plus, launched on October 1, allows viewers to record a channel while watching another, do picture-in-picture, and can service two TVs in two different rooms of the home. The second receiver, the 3200 Digital Plus, is a more basic model without the personal video recorder (PVR) function, but it has two tuners that allow viewing of ExpressVu programming on two different TV sets in the household. Candice Best, manager of media relations at Bell Canada, says the 3200 should be on the market in six to eight weeks. "Sometimes we’d get the Bell ExpressVu service into a household, but people would continue with an analog TV service on their secondary TV sets. So (these new receivers) will be able to take cable away from the household," says Odendaal. To make its TV service more user friendly, Bell ExpressVu also realigned its channel line-up, grouping the channels into 11 categories. For example, the sports channels are now all found in the 400-channel range, the movie channels are in the 300s, the high definition channels in the 800s, and the audio channels in the 900s. Odendaal, however, says that Bell ExpressVu wouldn’t attempt yet to tackle video-on-demand (VOD) – an option that many cablecos are now offering. He points out that DTH can offer VOD by using PVRs as file servers, but he says it really hasn’t taken hold. "That’s something that we’re looking at. It’s possible to do (on satellite), but the reason we haven’t put so much attention into that today is that it hasn’t been that successful where it has been introduced around the world," he says. "It hasn’t been technologically relevant yet." While basic-entry customers may be getting a better deal from Bell ExpressVu than before, existing discretionary TV customers could find themselves paying more under the new packaging. ExpressVu customers have the option of remaining with their existing TV packages, or migrating over. For example, subscribers of the old The Works movie package, which bundled with the basic package, eight theme packages, and more channels, paid $60.97 a month ($54.99 for the package, plus the $2.99 system charge and the $2.99 additional receiver fee). That movie package was substituted by the Ultimate 7 movie package, which bundled with the basic package, seven theme packages and movie channels for a cost of $63.96 ($57.99 for the package, plus the $2.99 access fee and $2.99 additional receiver fee). The new Movie Lovers Combo package unveiled last week is priced at $64, with no additional fees.

Bell ExpressVu targeting cable analog customers for second wave of growth

News | 10/08/2004 4:00 am EDT

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