We should all move to Canada, eh?
North of the border, people have affordable prescription drugs, great whiskey, and now something even better: sensible cable and satellite television packages for consumers.
Our neighbors make things happen. TV providers up there are in the midst of creating “pick-and-pay” options for viewers. Starting Dec. 1, after subscribing to a basic service package, they will be able to select individual channels they want access to.
And — ta-dah! — they won’t get or pay for the ones they don’t want to watch.
This advancement has received very little media coverage in the United States, but it might be the greatest innovation in communication since smoke signals.
Our household can watch 433 channels on cable, but the monthly bill is rapidly approaching four figures. I watch ESPN, but not E!, EWIN, ENCORE, ENCORE Classic, or Esquire. Food Network is good, but not FX, FXX, FYI or Fuse.
The transition, which had been mandated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), is being made in two stages. As of March 1, TV providers had to offer a basic package, mostly comprised of Canadian and U.S. networks, education and public service channels. Cost of this is mandated at $25 per month — or less.
If they wish, Canadians can add small bundles of channels — 10 or less — to the basic service. Picking single channels will be possible after Dec. 1, but the price is yet undetermined.
According to the Access Communications Company in Regina, Saskatchewan, which is just down the road from Moose Jaw, its current rates for TV are:
• $19.95 per month for the “basic,” or what it calls the “skinny” package. If coupled with Internet service, that price is reduced by $10.
• $17.95 per month for the 10-channel sports package plus one other package.
In other words, for $38 per month, I would be in Video Valhalla.
(Yes, the U.S. dollar is worth 25 percent more than theirs, but figuring that out would make my head hurt.)
According to the CRTC, “Canadians can choose the TV service that meets their needs, realities and budgets.”
What a novel approach.
The head of the commission, Jean-Pierre Blais, says the move “reflects what we’ve heard from Canadians who have expressed frustration that to access a particular channel they had to pay for a station they didn’t want.”
Of course, we Yanks have expressed the same “frustrations” to our own Federal Communications Commission and even to our elected officials in Washington. But at present, our pols seem more interested in telling airlines how big the seats in their airplanes must be than addressing the TV issue.
Could it be that the TV lobbyists are funneling more campaign money to the congressmen than the airline people are?
The big news from Canada might be that “pick-and-pay” is very possible from a technological standpoint. All we have heard south of Canada’s southern border is how difficult and expensive it would be for the cable/satellite companies to provide such an option.
So, we can hit the “mute” button on that excuse.
Our FCC and providers should adopt a Canada-like model. As they say up north, it is “a-boot time.”
Dick Hilker (dhilker529@aol.com) is a retired Denver suburban newspaper editor and columnist.
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