Several years back, Canada’s broadcast regulator, the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission), at the behest of the government, forced television service providers to offer a basic or limited TV package at $25 a month.
“Forced” is the operative word. None of the providers wanted such a plan, and in the initial phase, some operators directed salespeople to obfuscate its very existence. Even today there is no promotion of such a package by the providers.
In its mandate to providers, the CRTC precisely spelled out the requirements for basic TV, and the rollout was covered in detail in this very space at the time.
Mostly the content consists of local over-the-air channels (for example, CBC, Global) but not cable-only channels (for example, BC1, CNN). However, the mandate also carried an optional provision, to carry the main American networks, known as the 4+1 group (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, and PBS).
Locally, only Shaw includes the 4+1 American content in its basic lineup. Telus does not include these channels in its Optik TV basic service package.
Basic TV is surprisingly good. I switched to the Shaw version three years ago. I saved around $100 per month then. Previously I had so many channels I’d be hard pressed to name many of them, let alone watch them.
Did I miss some programming after the major cutback? Sure. I enjoyed the occasional spectacle of a WWE event, or a National Geographic documentary. That type of content was now inaccessible, although frequent promotional weeks unlock many of these specialty channels in an attempt to lure back cheapskates like me.
What I did add when I switched was a small package of additional news channels, CNN, BBC, and MSNBC, which incur a charge of a few dollars on top of the $25. For some reason, at that point Shaw adds on a number of additional cable channels, including MeTV and the home shopping channel.
However, the major TV service providers here also control the Internet cables. Shaw has its cable service, Telus its Optik TV service, which is increasingly being delivered over fibre optic cables in place of the still widely used copper phone lines.
That control has led the providers to claw back much of those savings of mine by raising the cost of Internet service over the past three years, with more to come later this year. I’m not really the target for these increases. The bigger concern for the providers is the reduction in households with any sort of TV subscription. In the not too distant future we will reach a point where the majority of households no longer have a standard TV subscription.
Sure, a very small number of so-called cord-cutters will switch to an over-the-air antenna to grab TV signals directly from the broadcasters. Not many stay with such a system exclusively once they realize that many of their favourite programs are carried only on cable channels.
The real bane for the TV service providers is streaming content, initially the purview of Netflix alone. Today, streaming services are expanding at rates completely unforeseen just five years ago. Disney’s announcement that it would begin its own streamer knocked the Netflix share price down a few notches. Disney’s service will come to Canada Nov. 12 for $8.99 a month, joining an ever-growing list here.
Streaming services are quickly eating into the savings people incurred when they initially either cut their TV subscription altogether or signed up for a bare-bones basic package.
In my own case, throw in Netflix and Amazon Prime subscriptions, along with those increases to Internet delivery, and we are down only about $25 from where we were three years ago. So much for that hundred dollars or so saved when we moved from full service to basic TV!
My most recent Shaw bill shows the following breakdown: Limited TV ($25), News Channels add-on ($8), an Italian channel add-on ($6), and Internet 300 ($113), for a total of $152. It also shows that my Internet 300 service is on promotional pricing of $80 until November, at a discount of $33, bringing the total bill with taxes to more than $130. It looks like we will be having a discussion with the provider come November!
How about you? What have you done to reduce your overall home media delivery costs? Are you a cord-cutter? Have you found your costs for Internet delivery increasing of late? Are you spending more on various streaming services than just a Netflix subscription? Will you subscribe to Hulu or Disney Plus when those streaming services come to Canada? Do you subscribe to sports streaming service DAZN Canada?
It’s a complex landscape out there in TV land. Gone are the days where almost every TV set in North America was tuned to the final episode of M*A*S*H, or of Seinfeld. In fact, gone are the days where TV programming was viewed only on a TV.
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