CRTC to require cable, satellite companies to offer basic package, with $25 cap
Posted Mar 20, 2015 05:02:53 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
GATINEAU, Que. – The CRTC has ordered an overhaul of the way Canada’s cable and satellite providers deliver television packages but the plan is getting mixed reviews.
An advocacy group for Canadian broadcasting called the changes “reckless.”
Ian Morrison of the group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting predicts the CRTC’s changes will cost Canadians jobs as some struggling television channels will fail.
The changes include a requirement that cable and satellite service providers must offer consumers an “entry-level” television service, at a cost of no more than 25 a month.
The basic package must include local channels in each service area, as well as channels such as public interest, educational and legislature channels where available.
The CRTC says viewers will then be able to supplement that basic package with either individual channels through a pick-and-pay model, or small, “reasonably-priced” bundled channel packages.
Cable providers Rogers and Cogeco have both issued statements praising the changes.
