The CRTC will post the Let's Talk TV decision on measures to maximize choice for Canadian television viewers on the CRTC website www.crtc.gc.ca at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 19, 2015.
The Chairman of the CRTC will deliver a statement and answer questions shortly after 4:15 p.m.
Providing free skinny basic to everyone might cost the BDUs a little bit, but if the free service was only available to customers with another service already (like home phone or internet), the customers would already be paying for the infrastructure and it would cost the BDUs nothing to switch the basic channels to clear QAM.
So after reading through fairly quickly, these are the most interesting notes to me (correct me if I'm wrong):
- They can continue to offer their existing packages or whatever else if they want to. However, they must also offer the mandated packages.
- Basic can cost no more than $25, and can include only up to 10 over the air channels plus the US networks unless a given market has more than that, in addition to required channels and local radio. It can't include pay audio or anything else. This takes effect at latest March 2016.
- Pick and pay of anything not included in basic OR small packs of channels (like theme packs) and/or build your own pack must be available by March 2016.
- Pick and pay AND small packs of channels and/or build your own pack must be available by December 2016.
- They can choose whether to have pre-built small packs of channels or offer build your own pack, but they don't have to offer both.
- They added a whole bunch of rules preventing companies who own channels from screwing over other companies, including mandatory arbitration within 120 days of contract expiries.
- Multiplex channels (such as Movie Central or TMN) can now be sold as individual channels. This would mean that HBO would no longer necessarily come in a bundle with those.
I wonder what they could provide to customers for $25/month. Of course now they'll increase the box rental fee, the system access fee and the extra outlet fee to maximize what price point they want. The BDU's will have it all figured out to offer us now, less for more money. I think somehow $25.00 will really be $40.00 after all is said and done including taxes.
^ Is this correct? I thought they were to include any US networks you could get in your area OTA, and at least the American 'big 4' even in areas that don't receive via OTA.
Each BDU will have a "standard" and a "basic" package. The basic will be what the CRTC requires in skinny basic and nothing more (perhaps the HD feeds, but that's about it). The standard will be the basic + the american networks + a couple of specialty channels to whet your appetite. All channels will be available to be ordered manually (as per the mandate), but theme packs will be only offered to those who subscribe to standard. The price of theme packs would be about the same price as ordering two channels individually, or a bit less. The premium channels would become available individually, but pricing would be similar to the theme pack thing in that it would be better value to order a package if you watch two of the channels or more. Once again, the premium bundles would only be available to a subscriber of standard.
Basically, it will end up being the same situation as it is now for the vast majority of subscribers.
Hope you didn't take it the wrong way. I remembered that the last time a link to the working document had been posted you had done it and it was not too long ago. So my alzheimers has not hit me yet. It was just a reference.
I think the $20 cap for skinny basic was a fair amount. Now the question is: How much will the providers price their a la carte in the rest of Canada? Not all a la carte options are the same.
Bell and Videotron both have a la carte in Quebec. Both have their pros and cons.
Videotron has gone the skinny basic route and Bell has a basic that has a few more channels in it. And then there are differences between Satellite and Fibe.
However, they are similar in price.
Currently, for Bell it's 15 channels for $19, 20 for $23 or 30 for $30.
I don't think ROC will see these prices. It will be more expensive. BDUs are used to milking Canadians and they will come up with a way get the same ARPU.
That's part of the problem with the current system. I've seen situations where I had to subscribe to an entire theme pack to get one or two new shows on one channel.
Currently, for Bell it's 15 channels for $19, 20 for $23 or 30 for $30.
That's not a bad system. But where are the 10 channels for $15 and 5 channels for $10 options? I've had to make these types of choices, with too many channels, before and still got stuck with channels I didn't want at a price I didn't want to pay. With that Bell offering, they are still padding the bottom line by making subscribers take things they don't want. What would happen if, for example, every grocery store made consumers pay for 15 or 20 grocery items, even if they only wanted 5 or if they made customers buy a loaf of bread and a dozen eggs every time they bought a quart of milk? What if they had to buy a package of Canadian bacon every time they bought some American bacon or the price of an item was doubled because they only wanted to buy one thing? That's the type of situation consumers face with BDUs and Canadians are powerless to change it.
All this means is if you want to watch certain show you'll be forced to sub to channels you don't want. Simply shows bought from US Nets will appear on specialty channels especially if the US channels get band.
I think the skinny basic will benefit the local channels. I would pick conventional tv to advertise now rather than specialty because I'm getting more viewers watching. This is why there's a fear now that some specialty channels might shut down.
“I think it’s a good decision and we are pleased with the way the CRTC implemented it,” Ken Engelhart, senior vice-president of regulatory affairs at Rogers, told the Star Thursday.
“The CRTC capped the small basic at $25, which I think is a reasonable compromise, and generally speaking the timelines are appropriate for the IT systems, etc. that have to be converted over. But we have been working this already, so I am hopeful we can do it advance of the CRTC’s guidelines. But I am not making any promises.”
"While this new regulatory environment will not be without challenges, the CRTC has provided real opportunities for Shaw to continue delivering the best content experiences possible for our customers and viewers within a healthy, dynamic and competitive environment," Shaw CEO Brad Shaw said in a statement.
I'm interested to see what Bell has to say. They're the ones who probably have the most to lose and are most likely to complain about this. Haven't seen any comment from them yet.
So you still have to subscribe to a $25 "skinny basic" before you can pick and pay for the channels you may want. Epic fail if that is the case.
eg: A person in Windsor ON has an antenna on their roof and receives CBC, CTV, Global, CityTV, Omni, TVO, NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox over the air. That person can not subscribe ONLY to Food Network, HBO, Playboy, TSN, and AMC. But rather they have to pay 25 dollars first for a skinny basic package of channels they already receive over the air, plus the fees for the pick and pay channels they really want.
What about the netflix user who only wants two or three channels?
who said anything about free? I am talking about not being forced to pay for channels I don't want. Wasn't that the point of all this?
These guys still don't get it. This isn't a negotiation. They either adapt to the demands of the consumer or they die. There are alternatives that Canadians will use if the industry doesn't get with it.
I'm in the scenario he describes with my OTA setup. I get all the networks in his post, but now if I just want the Discovery channel, History Channel, etc, I have to pay $25 for duplication of what I have OTA just to watch a few specialty channels.
I understand the logic behind the skinny basic, but consumers should be given the option to "opt out" and purchase individual channels without the skinny basic package.
If the industry moved to an entire pick and pay, I think it would be more profitable for the BDU's and better serve consumer interests.
I suspect Gilles' point is that there is a certain minimum dollar amount needed by a company to make if feasible to keep you as a customer. I.e. you can't expect them to take $2.49 per month if a customer only wants one channel. The CRTC is likely taking that (among other things) into account when requiring the cable providers to offer a minimal subscription for $25.
I agree with your point, but in my case, I can think of at least a dozen specialty channels I would purchase and if they charge $3 - $5 per channel, that would be $36 - $60 per month.
But because I'm forced to take the skinny basic of $25, my monthly bill would balloon to $61 - $85 per month with the specialty channels.
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
Fair point, Gentleman. I suppose it would be better to offer a minimum subscription fee, rather than package, to allow for the situation you're describing.
The thing is that most of the basic package as it stands goes straight to the cable company, as there are no fees involved in most of the channels included in that tier. For subscription channels, they get very little. So even 20 subscription channels probably wouldn't make up for the loss of the basic fee.
Perhaps if you don't want the "Skinny basic" package, you could subscribe to the pick and pay channels as long as your subscription is a minimum of $25/mo to cover the service delivery.
^ That would be better but that's not the way I interpret it.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums
1.7M posts
114.9K members
Since 2001
A forum community dedicated to Canadian TV, computing and home theatre owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about home audio/video, displays, troubleshooting, styles, projects, DIY’s, product reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!