Skinny TV Packages

[d0nb]

Poll - Skinny TV - http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-story--11-.htm

It doesn't cost a cable company anything to have a house hooked up if the cable passes the property anyway and it costs a satellite provider nothing to have a dish on your house. Is there any excuse for there to be any minimum subscriber charge, or any compelling reason to force Canadians to pay for a single TV channel they don't want to buy?

Skinny basic is a move in the right direction, but we are still being charged for services we don't want. There should be no packages of channels. That's like being told that you have to buy oranges and pears in order to buy an apple. All channels should be pick and pay. Multi-channel discounts would be fine, but they should be channels of the consumer's own choosing.

Even Netflix falls short on this score. Just show us what you have, Netflix, and charge us for what we choose to watch. As one of my favorite Aussie radio hosts used to say: "This isn't rocket surgery."

[Donald G]

Perhaps Pay Per View would be more to your liking.

[jetty1965]

When I was really young we had 3 channels , not a lot of choice but at least there was still good programming. You had your hockey night in Canada, grey cup didn't need to buy a sport package to get those. With a receiver (Rabbit ears) you could get channels without paying anything.

We didn't spend all our waking hours watching tv either.


I don't have a skinny package but it is a step in the right direction.

[d0nb]

Perhaps Pay Per View would be more to your liking.

With continued advances in customer billing technology, it only makes sense that things will head in that direction. It's hard to imagine anyone willingly paying for a 'package' of groceries rather than buying only what they want.

[d0nb]

When I was really young we had 3 channels , not a lot of choice but at least there was still good programming. You had your hockey night in Canada, grey cup didn't need to buy a sport package to get those. With a receiver (Rabbit ears) you could get channels without paying anything.

We didn't spend all our waking hours watching tv either.

I don't have a skinny package but it is a step in the right direction.

Yes, getting major sports events and a range of popular programs via commercial TV was nice, and there was something to be said for being able to discuss what was on the 'tube' with your friends, as we were all being limited to watching pretty much the same programs.

Now, the advent of specialty channels has made the cost of buying the broadcast rights for professional sports prohibitive for broadcasters, and the ability of viewers to avoid the commercials in 'free TV' is making it an endangered species.

[Donald G]

Postby d0nb » Yesterday, 4:45 pm

It doesn't cost a cable company anything to have a house hooked up if the cable passes the property anyway

The old underground cable was expensive to put in and had to be paid for by the Cable Company. The old cable is not adequate to carry the new "up to date" signals and would have to be redone.

Even if you have underground cable past your lot line the Cable Company still has to run the cable underground from the junction box to the house cable box. Houses that have the old style of wiring do not get the full advantage of the new advanced and much more clear signal. Such houses would have to be rewired at the owner's expense.

[d0nb]

Note: "if the cable passes the property anyway." Since most of us? at this point are subscribing for internet access rather than TV, the $25 per month for basic television could easily be lowered, if not eliminated. Free local TV (for internet/phone subscribers in particular) wouldn't be unreasonable and would help stations like CH maintain enough viewers to attract advertisers.

There is no good reason to force Canadians to pay for programming they don't watch, and don't want, and if "bundlers" don't smarten up, they will continue to lose customers to more innovative service providers. Even Netflix won't be immune to disconnects, once people have finished binge-watching TV series that they didn't have time for, or that were originally shown on channels they weren't subscribed to.

I've already cut back to skinny basic and if my BDU wants more of my money, they'll have to start offering to sell me what I want, without bundling it with things I really don't care to subsidize.

It's the principle of the thing, I guess.