Good and finally.

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cable-changes-timing-1.3326645

 

Canadian consumers should have basic package for $25 and choice for rest of channels

Cable and satellite providers must provide skinny basic packages priced at $25 a month to every consumer by March 1, 2016, the CRTC says.  The federal broadcast regulator laid out a timetable Thursday for changes to ways television signals are distributed across Canada.

 

In addition to the basic $25 package, cable and satellite providers must move to a pick-and-pay system or offer small bundles of channels, also by the March 1 deadline. They must offer both by Dec. 1 of next year.

 

The basic package must include channels on the CRTC's mandatory distribution list, including CBC, CTV and Global, a group of U.S. channels and aboriginal and minority English or French language channels. The U.S. channels usually would be CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX and non-commercial channel PBS.

 

At least 10 of the channels must be local or regional, including the community channel and the proceedings of the provincial legislature, if available.

 

TV viewers will then be able to supplement this with either individual channels or small bundled channel packages.

 

The CRTC ruled last year that consumers should have access to more choice in their cable and satellite packages as well as cheaper basic packages. This is the first announcement of the deadlines for those changes.

 

Some critics of the new regime say consumers may end up paying more for fewer choices, depending on how the cable companies bundle and price individual channels or packages of channels.

 

And some specialty broadcasters worry they'll be left out in the cold if their signals aren't bundled with popular or must-have choices.

28 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

And (at least for them) it will work.  Of the 26 channels in their bundle, Bell has included 10 french channels, the weather channel and legislative channels like CPAC so right away the number of channels people might actually watch is cut in half.

Exactly.  This whole 25 channel thing is just a big joke.

remember when basic cable was 13 channels and channel 1 was all static lol

Just now, Taynted_Fayth said:

remember when basic cable was 13 channels and channel 1 was all static lol

And 6 was french (I think) and 9 was weather that my grandma would watch endlessly.  11 was Community Access (again, if I recall).  13 never worked unless you had a good antenna to pick up Pembina.  Eventually it became MTN from Portage (I think).

TV was great back then.  Basically 3 or 4 American Channels, a couple of Canadian channels and yet we were always happy with what was on.  And Movies of the Week were always great, especially if it was a mini series.

a much simpler time,  and yet id still get muscled off the tv by my brother and sister so they could watch days of our lives on CKND when i just wanted to watch some toons damn it

2 hours ago, Logan007 said:

12 minutes ago, Taynted_Fayth said:

remember when basic cable was 13 channels and channel 1 was all static lol

1 still is static i do remember the day TSN/MuchMusic showed up, scrambled but they were there. C-channel anyone?

9 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

And 6 was french (I think) and 9 was weather that my grandma would watch endlessly.  11 was Community Access (again, if I recall).  13 never worked unless you had a good antenna to pick up Pembina.  Eventually it became MTN from Portage (I think).

TV was great back then.  Basically 3 or 4 American Channels, a couple of Canadian channels and yet we were always happy with what was on.  And Movies of the Week were always great, especially if it was a mini series.

 

13 was WDAZ Grand Forks which was NBC and switched later on to ABC(horrible decision as NBC would rule the air for a decade to come).

We also had CBS/ABC out of Fargo but bad weather would take them out. KNRR was 12 and yep antenna. Mad Frank FTW!

Edited March 8, 20169 yr by FrostyWinnipeg

1 minute ago, Taynted_Fayth said:

a much simpler time,  and yet id still get muscled off the tv by my brother and sister so they could watch days of our lives on CKND when i just wanted to watch some toons damn it

And the biggest TV in our house was maybe 19 inches.  But my parents were very nice about having TV's in our bedrooms.  My brother had a 7' B&W and I think i ended up getting a 12" B&W.  I parents didnt even buy their first flat screen until just a few years ago and it was only 20-something inches.  I finally took them to get a "big screen" TV last year.  42"!  wow!

I remember wdaz news being like ron burgandy retro, they did a funny fond du lac news skit with jonah hill this past saturday that pretty much sums up what I remember from devils lake/grand forks

 

Edited March 8, 20169 yr by Taynted_Fayth

28 minutes ago, Taynted_Fayth said:

a much simpler time,  and yet id still get muscled off the tv by my brother and sister so they could watch days of our lives on CKND when i just wanted to watch some toons damn it

Still mad you're the only one who wanted to watch My Little Pony eh? 

The ole aboriginal test pattern...... would have been great while doing the chronic

9 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

Still mad you're the only one who wanted to watch My Little Pony eh? 

Days would have interfered with his watching Spider-Man/Hercules.

9 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

Still mad you're the only one who wanted to watch My Little Pony eh? 

please, you damn well know my after school shows were goof troop and tailspin early on, then eventually gargoyles and darkwing duck, no time for ponies. then eventually the simspons at 5pm, but i'd get muscled off that one too while mom would watch young and the restless.  I too had a B & W like 12" for pretty much nintendo and nintendo only.  the day we got a 2nd tv to run cable in the basement was a game changer!

11 minutes ago, do or die said:

The ole aboriginal test pattern...... would have been great while doing the chronic

I was talking about some nostalgia they could throw in if they ever made a that 90's show over some drinks on the weekend (maybe that 70's show cast with teens and a kinda then vs now kinda premise - now being the 90's)  and i was like I was lookin at porn looong before lookin at porn was cool,  remember dial up speed uploading the slooooowest pics like piece by piece on netscape browser, then he one upped me with scrambled porn and the random green nip or wang that would flash across the screen. lol tv was kinda fun back in the day.

 

when i was 8 or so i learnt through trial and error that putting a bingo magnet wand against the tv sucks ALL the colour into 1 spot and stays that way :s 

1 hour ago, Taynted_Fayth said:

I was talking about some nostalgia they could throw in if they ever made a that 90's show over some drinks on the weekend (maybe that 70's show cast with teens and a kinda then vs now kinda premise - now being the 90's)  and i was like I was lookin at porn looong before lookin at porn was cool,  remember dial up speed uploading the slooooowest pics like piece by piece on netscape browser, then he one upped me with scrambled porn and the random green nip or wang that would flash across the screen. lol tv was kinda fun back in the day.

 

when i was 8 or so i learnt through trial and error that putting a bingo magnet wand against the tv sucks ALL the colour into 1 spot and stays that way :s 

REC Newsgroups, Celebrity nudes. 

Never mind just the TV business....

Anyone who has traveled anywhere and seen how other countries handle the ole cell phone service.......will understand just how badly these corporate Ned Kelly's have ripped us off.   CTRC is simply an blatant enabler......protecting the consumer - my arse.

8 hours ago, Taynted_Fayth said:

remember when basic cable was 13 channels and channel 1 was all static lol

Ok, did anyone else try to pick up the pay per view channel for free in the early 80s. I remember you had to hook up a bunch to tinfoil to the back of your tv and you could sorta unscramble the PPV (between channels 6 and 7 I believe.)

I just recall they must of shown Stars Wars 3 times a day but the channel also provided my 1st taste of porn. lol

16 hours ago, do or die said:

Never mind just the TV business....

Anyone who has traveled anywhere and seen how other countries handle the ole cell phone service.......will understand just how badly these corporate Ned Kelly's have ripped us off.   CTRC is simply an blatant enabler......protecting the consumer - my arse.

I hear that.  My brother in law travels the world for business, and he said Canada is one of expensive places to live.  They over charge us for everything, and tax the hell out of us on top of it all.  Cell service, TV, internet, shipping, travel, products, food, etc... is all more expensive.  He said he knew some guy who manufactures windows here in Winnipeg and sells them in Canada and the US.  He said it's cheaper to buy those Windows in the US then it is to walk down the street to this guys warehouse and buy them directly from him.  How the hell is that even possible?  Is it because we have such a low population or is our government and business just so corrupt?

15 hours ago, WinnipegGordo said:

Ok, did anyone else try to pick up the pay per view channel for free in the early 80s. I remember you had to hook up a bunch to tinfoil to the back of your tv and you could sorta unscramble the PPV (between channels 6 and 7 I believe.)

I just recall they must of shown Stars Wars 3 times a day but the channel also provided my 1st taste of porn. lol

Yup.  My dad was a techy and belonged to a few groups, including an early computer club.  After one meeting (with whatever group), he came home and made a little box that included some wiring, a switch and tinfoil.  And we were able to watch grainy PPV movies.  Sometimes the quality was really good...other times awful. 

Edited March 9, 20169 yr by The Unknown Poster

15 hours ago, WinnipegGordo said:

Ok, did anyone else try to pick up the pay per view channel for free in the early 80s. I remember you had to hook up a bunch to tinfoil to the back of your tv and you could sorta unscramble the PPV (between channels 6 and 7 I believe.)

I just recall they must of shown Stars Wars 3 times a day but the channel also provided my 1st taste of porn. lol

i did not but there was this rumour that a drill on a filter would open up scrambled channels.

Now DTV...those were good times.

With Shaw, their sports offerings include two main bundles for $8 each. One includes Sportsnet and the other one has TSN and all its affiliates. Those jerks know I need to watch both CFL and Jays games, so they've got me and most other Canadian sports fans right where they want them. Wonder how much just TSN and SN will cost to buy individually.

Aside from that $16 gouging, the only thing the wife and I will subscribe to beyond the basic package is the $4 bundle that includes HGTV and Food Network. Gotta have some mindless House Hunters viewing once in a while. So taking the $25 package and adding TSN, SN, and HGTV turns a $25 package into a $45 package. Buncha crooks.

Between my internet and dish, both of which are through Telus, I pay just shy of $150/month. I've done the research on Bell, Shaw, Shaw Direct, and even our local organization O-Net (seriously, check it out.... www.o-net.ca) and it really comes out to about the same price. They're all pirates...it's just about which pirate you wanna deal with.

lol i was gonna go on a  butt pirate rant but ill take the high road.

does no one do the run with shaw for 6 mo at like 1/2 price and all channels, then switch to MTS and do the same for the next 6 mo then back again?  used to be like $40 a month for tv internet and get all the packages including the hustler channel ** hustler was an extra $10 a month,  nvm it was like $50

Edited March 9, 20169 yr by Taynted_Fayth

49 minutes ago, nate007 said:

With Shaw, their sports offerings include two main bundles for $8 each. One includes Sportsnet and the other one has TSN and all its affiliates. Those jerks know I need to watch both CFL and Jays games, so they've got me and most other Canadian sports fans right where they want them. Wonder how much just TSN and SN will cost to buy individually.

Aside from that $16 gouging, the only thing the wife and I will subscribe to beyond the basic package is the $4 bundle that includes HGTV and Food Network. Gotta have some mindless House Hunters viewing once in a while. So taking the $25 package and adding TSN, SN, and HGTV turns a $25 package into a $45 package. Buncha crooks.

They cut the price down slightly ($14 for the pair) if you get both bundles.  I hope they keep those same prices when the time comes for the complete pick & pay.  Individual channels now are $3 and up so it makes more sense to get the bundles.  For me, I'd be cutting everything but the sports channels so I could live with only paying around $20 plus my internet.

22 minutes ago, Taynted_Fayth said:

lol i was gonna go on a  butt pirate rant but ill take the high road.

does no one do the run with shaw for 6 mo at like 1/2 price and all channels, then switch to MTS and do the same for the next 6 mo then back again?  used to be like $40 a month for tv internet and get all the packages including the hustler channel ** hustler was an extra $10 a month,  nvm it was like $50

Have to go 1 year before changing. Still worth it for sure.