[pastarocket]

For people that have cable TV, this may be good news. CRTC is announcing new rules that require all cable and satellite companies to offer a basic TV channels package. Monthly fee would be capped at $25.

This deal could also mean unbundling channels in cable TV packages.
Pick and pay for the channels that you want.

NetFlix is still a better deal than whatever basic package that the cable providers offer. :lawl: :smug:

Your thoughts?

?Skinny basic? cable package with price cap of $25 to be announced by CRTC | News1130 (http://www.news1130.com/2015/03/19/skinny-basic-cable-package-price-cap-25-crtc-reports/)

The country’s broadcast regulator is coming out with new rules today that will require cable and satellite companies to offer customers a trimmed-down, basic channels package, sources have told The Canadian Press.

The cost of the so-called “skinny basic” package is to be capped at $25, said one source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The CRTC will announce details this afternoon on what it calls “measures to maximize choice for Canadian viewers.”

Bloomberg spoke with industry analysts who believe the announcement will also be about unbundling your TV, which for years has seen programmers pair their weaker channels with stronger ones to promote new shows and boost revenue.

Analyst Maher Yaghi with Desjardins believes if the CRTC does allow freedom to “pick and pay” for individual channels or scaled-down bundles, it may lead to a $5 to $10 reduction in your monthly cable or satellite bill. But he says many of the weaker specialty and niche channels would become unprofitable.

A report from ratings company Nielsen in the US found the average home receives 189 TV channels but only watches 17 of them.

In the US, Apple and Dish are working on “skinny bundles” or web services that offer just a few popular channels at a lower price.

The whittled-down packages are putting pressure on programmers who have relied on the 500-channel pay-TV universe to carry their less-popular niche networks.

The Harper government has been pushing the regulator to allow for a “pick-and-pay” system that would allow consumers to choose and pay only for the individual channels they want.

However, the CRTC hinted late last summer that it would be open to a pick-and-pay option built on top of a lighter mandatory service than what is currently being offered widely in the industry.

[6o4__boi]

Either way, the cable service providers will find a way to fuck everyone up the ass and get their money.

it's a novel idea but i don't see it changing the current landscape much in terms of costs

[inv4zn]

What they're going to do is follow the CRTC's requirement, then jack up the price of every "pick and pay" by an exorbitant amount so they come out on top again.

Happened with the cell phone thing, and will happen again this time.

[Tone Loc]

What they're going to do is follow the CRTC's requirement, then jack up the price of every "pick and pay" by an exorbitant amount so they come out on top again.

Happened with the cell phone thing, and will happen again this time.

I agree.

I appreciate the CRTC in trying to protect consumers from being completely bent over and railed by the telecom companies, but IMO the only way to fix the oligopoly and lower prices across the board is to introduce more competition. I really wish US-based companies such as Verizon would come to Canada, it's no surprise that the "Big Three" lobbied so hard against it as they knew it would lead to them actually being competitive in the rates instead of fixing the price at a set level of "high".

[StylinRed]

the basic tv package should be a set number of channels (like 10 channels) but the user can choose which 10 out of all channels available :)

currently paying $230ish to shaw a month -_- don't even have all the channels wtf

[GLOW]

currently paying $230ish to shaw a month -_- don't even have all the channels wtf

w-t-f mang...i'm paying half that and i still think it's too much :lol

you so ballin http://images.uncyclomedia.co/uncyclopedia/en/9/9e/697.gif

[Mr.HappySilp]

yes lets lower the price of basic cable and force provider to provide pick and chose per channel. BUT WAIT! All the popular ones are $20 each?!?!?!

CRTC needs to know it is not the cable provider's fault. A lot of channel are bundle the way they are because the company who owns the channel want it bundle. Ever wonder why Movie Central is always bundle with HBO? Coz Movie central owns HBO and the company who owns it wants them to be bundle.

[6o4__boi]

w-t-f mang...i'm paying half that and i still think it's too much :lol

you so ballin http://images.uncyclomedia.co/uncyclopedia/en/9/9e/697.gif

lol i was thinking the same thing
i'm paying about 120 right now and my fiancee is pushing me to cut cable...but the only reason i have it on right now is because of hockey

im probably just going to deactivate cable services until October when hockey season is done

the Shaw Arris or whatever HD box is such a piece of shit...that thing is always lagging

[Liquid_o2]

The only reason the cable companies have customers right now is because of sports. That is the one thing that keeps me and my family with them. I barely watch anything outside of Sportsnet, TSN, TSN2, etc. because I'd rather watch Netflix otherwise. I'm sure they will be smart and ensure that the sports channels are bundled in a higher package.

[fliptuner]

inb4 sure but they're all SD channels.

[hchang]

You guys still subscribe to cable?

I just got Netflix and it's more than enough for me

[trip]

I agree.

I appreciate the CRTC in trying to protect consumers from being completely bent over and railed by the telecom companies, but IMO the only way to fix the oligopoly and lower prices across the board is to introduce more competition. I really wish US-based companies such as Verizon would come to Canada, it's no surprise that the "Big Three" lobbied so hard against it as they knew it would lead to them actually being competitive in the rates instead of fixing the price at a set level of "high".


this one guy told me that more competition will mean higher costs. :rukidding:

wasnt kidding.. /insert hour long arguement :lawl:

[hotjoint]

I can't live without cable. Have to watch my sports live and streaming won't do it for me. holy crap Stylin, I pay 1/2 of what you pay and I already think that's too many channels as well. We actually downgraded and saved $15 off our cable not too long ago.

[HonestTea]

If it wasn't for live sports I'd probably cut cable and use strictly Netflix.

[fishCak3s]

I keep my cable for sports just like everyone else. I am thinking cutting my tv cable and subscribing to services like NBA league pass. But you get your playoffs blacked out.

[Hondaracer]

sports is the only reason i keep any sort of cable as well, that and sportscenter

currently though we have like the most basic pack from Shaw which they gave us a free trial for 6 months and it's fucking garbage, it's like the most basic of basic, you get like global, TSN, sportsnet 1, and then HGTV and A&E, channels like CNN and NBC, etc. which you would figure are in the basic package are not included

[Manic!]

Want 1 channel have to order 5 to get it.
Want a list of all the channels I get? they cant tell me.
Want TSN HD but only get TSN HD in french without paying more.
Same show on 15 channels in both SD and HD. On 15 more channels 3 hours later.
Get APTN east and west in SD and HD. Same shows on all 4 channels all shot in SD.
Found out there is a bake sale in Orillia Ontario this Saturday because I get the Orillia community channel.
Go past channel 1000 when I feel adventurous.

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[underscore]

While I get that some of the less popular networks need to be "carried" by bundles, so many channels are just repeating the same shit it doesn't really matter if some can't survive. I cut cable because spending $80/month to watch the same 3 episodes of a few shows on 6 different versions of a channel was impossible to justify.

lol i was thinking the same thing
i'm paying about 120 right now and my fiancee is pushing me to cut cable...but the only reason i have it on right now is because of hockey

im probably just going to deactivate cable services until October when hockey season is done

the Shaw Arris or whatever HD box is such a piece of shit...that thing is always lagging

Why not get a streaming package? If someone sold a streaming package that was as good as CBC's World Cup coverage was, but for hockey, I'd be all over it.

[Hondaracer]

NHL GameCenter.

stream from phone, ipad, apple tv, built in TV apps, etc. this is the first year i've used it because i got it free with my Rogers Shared plan, and it's pretty great, ive never once had an issue and the streaming feed is seemingly the same quality as a sportsnet digital cable broadcast etc

[gars]

NHL Gamecenter - this is the first year that the blackout for Canucks games has been lifted. Before - if your IP was detected to be in BC, you couldn't watch it. Yes you could run a chrome extension, but it didn't always work before.

If you sign up under a Russian IP - it's only $75 for the year, as opposed to $150 for the year.

[Tapioca]

Even the value of cable for sports is dwindling.

I cut the cord last year and hacked an Amazon FireTV to run XBMC. It's been a pretty good investment of my time and money. I can't imagine paying over a hundred a month to a cable company.

[underscore]

^ Raspberry Pi + XBMC = amazing. Once I got that set up I can't go back.

Gamecenter sounds like what I'm talking about for hockey, does anyone know what the device limit is? Both total devices and currently active.

[willystyle]

Raspberry Pi + XBMC (Kodi) is so slow and laggy, surprise that you're fine with it.

[GLOW]

probably a noob question, but what does XBMC give you, ability to stream sports games online? i thought XBMC allows you to play movies/media on a PC or are there other uses?

[inv4zn]

Top comment from CBC article pretty much has it bang on :lawl:

"Yeah, I'd like to sign up for the $25.00 per month package."

"Sure thing, that'll be $72.25"

$25.00 Base Price
$1.25 CRTC fee
$3.75 Bandwidth fee
$2.00 Emergency service fee
$4.80 Obamacare fee
$11.60 Only service provider in your area fee
$3.25 Not electing for specialty channels fee
$2.15 Cable TV membership fee
$1.00 Printed bill fee
$2.35 Server space required to store your personal information fee
$3.25 We'll see if they don't spot this one fee
$2.35 Fee mediation fee
$8.15 Convenience fee
$1.35 Clairvoyance fee

[6o4__boi]

NHL Gamecenter - this is the first year that the blackout for Canucks games has been lifted. Before - if your IP was detected to be in BC, you couldn't watch it. Yes you could run a chrome extension, but it didn't always work before.

If you sign up under a Russian IP - it's only $75 for the year, as opposed to $150 for the year.

so no more regional blackouts with gamecenter?
i might just consider that for next year

[underscore]

RaspBMC is really smooth for me, a bit of lag when it's pulling new media info but playback itself is like butter. I've got a 1B but I want to grab a 2B+ for the bedroom.

probably a noob question, but what does XBMC give you, ability to stream sports games online? i thought XBMC allows you to play movies/media on a PC or are there other uses?

XBMC is for streaming your own media primarily, although you can connect it to outside sources I haven't seen if it can stream stuff like sports yet. It's got a nice interface that can pull up all the media info on the TV shows, movies, etc on your network and lets you search through it without having to manually configure all that info (for example I can search through all my movies by actor because it pulled the cast for them all). I like it because it's very flexible and

[iEatClams]

sure, cut the cable. the fuckers will only jack up internet prices since we "stream too much".

[gars]

so no more regional blackouts with gamecenter?
i might just consider that for next year

I think since Rogers bought the rights - all the regional blackouts in Canada have been lifted AFAIK. My buddy said that he still has blackouts while living in Texas.

for $75 USD for the season, it's worth it for me.

[willystyle]

probably a noob question, but what does XBMC give you, ability to stream sports games online? i thought XBMC allows you to play movies/media on a PC or are there other uses?
Personally, I would use XBMC only to stream local network content.

Streaming live sports sucks. Quality is bad, imo. Streaming movies/TV shows is OK, media is scattered everywhere from different repositories, so it's not convenient and eloquently presented like Netflix. Might be difficult to find what you watch sometimes, especially if the content is dated. However for the latest/newest content, it's not bad, provided that you install the correct addon's and repo's.

[PeanutButter]

lol i was thinking the same thing
i'm paying about 120 right now and my fiancee is pushing me to cut cable...but the only reason i have it on right now is because of hockey

im probably just going to deactivate cable services until October when hockey season is done

the Shaw Arris or whatever HD box is such a piece of shit...that thing is always lagging

Why not just NHL Game Centre? If you love hockey, this should be a no brainer, you get way more video and features with game centre.

Just hook a computer up to your TV and win!

[Gnomes]

They know most people are relied on internet more so than TV. You know what they will do...

[StylinRed]

w-t-f mang...i'm paying half that and i still think it's too much :lol

you so ballin http://images.uncyclomedia.co/uncyclopedia/en/9/9e/697.gif

that includes internet if that helps :/
but i don't really have a choice, everyone wants one channel or the other so it adds up

i'd rather just cut everything but the internet, since there are the streaming services and downloads available fml

[jsoni]

Tsn should launch an online paid service which would let you watch sportscenter etc and all the programming. $5/month and goodbye cable

[Great68]

I have Shaw,

I get Basic + Entertainment1 (Discovery, A&E, History etc) & World & Adventure (HIFI, Radx etc)

I WANT Speed HD, but it's only available in the Sports 1 package. I don't want any other channel in the Sports 1 pack.

I WANT Spike, but it's the only channel out of the whole Sports 2 package I want.

Tell me that the shaw fuckers didn't split up the packages that way on purpose.

Now, If I could pick-n-pay those two channels at $3 a piece I would get them, and therefore Shaw would actually win because they would be getting $6 bucks a month more from me.
But I'm not going to pay a full $20 a month more for both full packages just so I can have two channels.

[Mr.HappySilp]

I have Shaw,

I get Basic + Entertainment1 (Discovery, A&E, History etc) & World & Adventure (HIFI, Radx etc)

I WANT Speed HD, but it's only available in the Sports 1 package. I don't want any other channel in the Sports 1 pack.

I WANT Spike, but it's the only channel out of the whole Sports 2 package I want.

Tell me that the shaw fuckers didn't split up the packages that way on purpose.

Now, If I could pick-n-pay those two channels at $3 a piece I would get them, and therefore Shaw would actually win because they would be getting $6 bucks a month more from me.
But I'm not going to pay a full $20 a month more for both full packages just so I can have two channels.

$3 per channel? You must be dreaming. If it goes to where user can pick their own channels, popular channels is going to be like $10 each lol.

[willystyle]

Tsn should launch an online paid service which would let you watch sportscenter etc and all the programming. $5/month and goodbye cable
This is why Bell will never make this happen knowing that people will cut their cable.

[underscore]

Even at $10/channel I might get cable again, I was paying $80/month but only watching 3-5 channels, even $50/month puts me ahead $360/yr.

[Great68]

$3 per channel? You must be dreaming. If it goes to where user can pick their own channels, popular channels is going to be like $10 each lol.

If they charged $10 for each, I just wouldn't get those channels then which makes it no different than what I have right now.

What i'm saying is, that if they priced it *reasonably* some people might actually pay more.

[hotjoint]

This is our current plan with all 3 services. I called to bitch at them for their prices so they gave us a $15 credit :lol

NHL Network 3.00
NBA TV 3.00
2 Pack Discount -2.00
Personal TV 39.90
Best of HD 35.00
Shaw Digital Terminal 5.00
Included HD Box -5.00
High Speed 10 59.00
Personal Phone 15.00
Total Current Monthly Services $152.90

Promotions
Loyalty Gesture (expires 21-Aug-15) -15.00
Total Promotions $-15.00

Total Current Charges $151.66

[willystyle]

Anyone who thinks that their bill would actually decrease due to CRTC's new regulation is naive, and need to look no further than what the CRTC accomplished in the wireless telecommunication sector in the last year or so. By next year, if your cable bill hasn't increased, you should be thankful of the CRTC. The only way our bill will decrease is if there are new players in the game, and I don't see that happening anytime soon.

If you're still watching cable, it will only get more expensive as years to come, as more people are becoming cord cutters, and the cable companies will need to make up for the losses somehow.

Don't even get me started on their abysmal internet service.

[Spoon]

Anyone who thinks that their bill would actually decrease due to CRTC's new regulation is naive, and need to look no further than what the CRTC accomplished in the wireless telecommunication sector in the last year or so. By next year, if your cable bill hasn't increased, you should be thankful of the CRTC. The only way our bill will decrease is if there are new players in the game, and I don't see that happening anytime soon.

If you're still watching cable, it will only get more expensive as years to come, as more people are becoming cord cutters, and the cable companies will need to make up for the losses somehow.

Landlines are turning obsolete due to cellphones. You're not going to see them hike prices up any time soon. However, you're right, revenue will come from somewhere, and it's the cellphone plans. The same will happen when media streaming replaces cable tv. Cable tv likely will stay around the same price, but instead, the price of your broadband connection will likely go up.

[willystyle]

the price of your broadband connection will likely go up.
Which is absolutely ridiculous because the fact is, the cost of internet data delivery has been decreasing yearly in the last 10 years. The actual COST of delivering 1GB to a consumer cost somewhere like 1 cent per GB, and at the same time, the cost of fibre optic cables has come down tremendously as well over the last 10 years. There's absolutely no reason why we should still be utilizing copper-based wires for internet delivery. But because our telecommunication providers and our federal government is too short-sighted and cheap to upgrade our existing infrastructure, and the need for our duopoly to continue to price gouge the consumers that we haven't seen much advancements in internet speeds in Canada over the last 10 years.

Canadians just love getting probed up the ass.

EDIT: 1 cent per GB is with maintenance cost and employee salary taken into consideration.

[Tapioca]

Loving Novus right now. $45/month for 20MBPS and 250 gigs. Fibre optic to the building. I guess one of the few benefits to living in a shoebox in the sky compared to all of you unfortunate detached home folks.