Canada Will Force Cable Companies To Unbundle Channels

[joshua minaya]

The Canadian government will soon require cable and satellite television providers to make it easier for customers to buy only the channels they want rather than pay for bundles, the country's industry minister said on Sunday.
"We don't think it's right for Canadians to have to pay for bundled television channels that they don't watch. We want to unbundle television channels and allow Canadians to pick and pay the specific television channels that they want," Industry Minister James Moore said during an appearance on CTV's "Question Period."
Some Canadian cable and satellite television providers have already begun to offer so-called "a la carte" pricing, a trend some analysts think could begin to take hold in the much larger U.S. market.
Moore said Canada's Conservative government is looking at other consumer-friendly moves when the next parliamentary session resumes such as preventing airline overbooking and curbing wireless roaming rates charged by telecom companies.


source:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/14/cable-unbundle-channels_n_4096777.html

[Johnderman]

Awesome!!! About time someone got rid of the bundles. It's like sifting through a garbage can to find the channels you want sometimes. It's like the channel buttons get worn out before anything else on the remote. -.-

[mairj23]

I think that this is a great idea. There are so many channels out there that never gets watched anyway. Choosing your own channels for a certain price, makes more sense to me than just paying for 200 channels at a premium price. Wish they did this in the States.

[JohnBeaulieu]

That is a shame for Canadians. Get ready for inflated prices and fewer choices. That is what is going to come from it.

[tiffaninichole]

When I read the title, my first reaction was "That sucks!" but after reading the reasoning behind it, I have to agree that it makes sense. I pay for so many channels that I don't ever watch and probably won't ever watch. Paying for what you use is so genius, I don't know why no one has come up with it yet.


Oh wait, yes I do. Cable companies would lose money. LOL.

[JohnBeaulieu]

This will actually serve to drive costs up in the long run. Politicians rarely understand how technology actually works when they go off on a tangent like this.

[rz3300]

Well finally the solution that I have been saying for years.  I hate paying for a whole package and watching only about three channels.  I am not sure if what some other users have said that it would drive costs up is true, but I do not think it will.  It think that it might per channel, but if you factor in the savings on not paying for wasted channels, then I am sure you would save.  It just opens up the market so I doubt that prices will suffer.