‘Skinny basic’ cable package with price cap of $25 to be announced by CRTC
Posted March 19, 2015 8:45 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – 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.
