Yesterday we brought you the news on the CRTC’s latest change: Mandatory “entry-level” TV packages from the cable companies, at no more than $25 a month. Today, here’s what the media is saying:
- The main purpose of the new regs seems to be so that the CRTC won’t have to ” listen to Canadians complain that they are being denied their inalienable right to watch slick TV ads” says Simon Houpt of the Globe and Mail, here. And that’s not even getting into the politics . . .
- The National Post’s Terence Corcoran says bluntly, “Nobody would buy that basic bundle,” and predicts “viewer confusion” and other fallout here.
- Broadcaster reports that “Canadian Media Guild is disappointed” that the new basic package is “excluding Canada’s two major public French and English news services [CBCNN and RDI]” while including U.S. channels free. See more here.
- Viewers who are now paying nothing to stream TV shows are not going to be roped in by a $25 entry-level package, says QMI Agency’s Bill Harris. Instead, people paying more will grab the chance to downsize, “So that will just be a straight monetary loss to the providers,” and guess how they’ll try to fix that? Read the rest at Canoe, here.
- The Toronto Star takes a balanced view, laying out the pros (“more people will be able to afford to watch local Canadian media” and cons (“niche stations may go bust”). Read the rest of the upside and downside here.
And leave your own view in the combox if you want.