Peter Vogel’s Tech Wise
Some of the free, typically ad-supported, streamers available in Canada. Graphic composite: P. Vogel
Seems our recent column on cord-cutting generated some discussion. In addition to appearing on this platform, the column was widely shared on various social media platforms and in various Facebook groups.
Households with no standard cable TV subscription may be in the majority now here in Canada. Finding actual hard data is difficult but anecdotally it seems home TV package subscriptions may have jumped the shark, to borrow from a well-used TV expression.
What exactly is driving cord-cutting? Not unexpectedly, a multitude of reasons lie behind the changing home TV landscape.
Many seem to find common ground in their dislike, if not outright disdain for, cable TV suppliers. Ever-spiralling costs (who remembers $5 a month cable TV?), unwanted channels, poor customer service are just some of the reasons that surface when people are asked why they no longer subscribe to a TV service.
Another common factor is the fragmented landscape which appeared after the Netflix juggernaut began to dominate TV hours, when looked at on a weekly basis. Naturally people began to question the value of say a hundred-dollar TV package when a ten to twenty-dollar Netflix subscription was beginning to dominate viewing time.
Over time that TV landscape fragmentation increased even more as multiple streaming platforms emerged, some gaining traction, some faltering along the way. The net effect was some households began spending nearly as much on streaming platforms as they had previously on standard TV before cutting the cord. Some nearly doubled their spending, keeping both good old cable TV, numerous TV streaming services, and, in some cases, even multiple music streaming services.
But, wait, I can hear you say, what about those who’ve gone strictly to streaming. Aren’t you still ahead with say five streamers in place of a regular TV feed? Well, for a while yes, but what have the service providers done? Why they’ve raised their internet feed rates, yearly, and especially steeply in the post-pandemic years, hoping to make up the shortfall from lost TV subscriptions.
Oh, sure, the service providers will provide all sorts of hand-waving arguments about infrastructure improvements and higher speeds and 4K programming, you name it. Under duress from governments and regulators, here in Canada at least, the providers have reluctantly provided some relaxation on the way they package their TV subscriptions. They’ve even had to offer a mandatory $25 “basic TV” service, but unfortunately the regulator, the CRTC, didn’t spell out a maximum rate for the necessary modem and TV box.
However, it is all likely too little, too late. The streaming genie has essentially won the war with linear cable TV. Or has it? Subscription hopping has become commonplace in streaming households. Subscribe to one or two services at a time, and only when there is specific content you want, say a certain series running on only one streaming provider.
This raises the issue of managing those subscriptions, cancelling and re-ordering on tight schedules so as to minimize spending. Expect to see some of the streamers pressing users to sign one or two-year subscriptions to prevent this hopping.
Some households have no streamer subscriptions whatsoever but instead use only free ad-supported TV (FAST) platforms such asThe Roku Channel, PlutoTV and Tubi. They may supplement this with a YouTube Premium Lite (about $9 a month in Canada) or YouTube Premium (about $16 a month in Canada).
FAST service requires an internet feed, naturally, and a smart TV or a standard TV accompanied by a plug-in Roku or similar device. The YouTube add-on has become increasingly popular as it either reduces or eliminates annoying advertising on that platform. The full “Premium” package also comes with YouTube Music, a means of cutting out say a Spotify subscription.
As for those nasty internet rates, typically in the $100 a month range for gigabit speeds, they aren’t going down. However, we have a new phenomenon, households that have no wired internet feed, and certainly no cable TV subscription, whatsoever. These households rely on a solid mobile phone plan, with either a large amount, or unlimited data. They stream video content from their mobiles to their home devices, be they laptops, desktops, or large-screen television screens. This may be the ultimate when it comes to cutting the cord.
Mobile and media giant Bell owns the Crave branding in Canada and makes its streaming content available to Bell and to Virgin Plus mobile customers on eligible plans. Most commonly this is Crave Standard With Ads. Non customers can sign up for limited free access by creating a Bell Media account with just an email address.
Of course, here in Canada we still pay exorbitantly high mobile phone rates compared to much of the rest of the world. This may change if Elon Musk’s Starlink initiative morphs from an internet delivery service into a full-fledged mobile services company. Stay tuned.
By the way, as this column goes to press comes word that streaming platform Roku is being acquired by Fox, understandably raising concerns about potential politicization of the platform.
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