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[Razorskin]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repo...cord-cutters-with-alt-tv-app/article34983509/

his may be the new golden age of television, but the number of Canadians actually subscribing to TV services has been steadily declining.

BCE Inc. is trying to push back on that trend with a cheaper, app-based service that offers live television without the frills of a traditional set-top box experience.

After teasing its launch last month, the Montreal-based communications company is now revealing the details of “Alt TV.” The new service, which BCE’s Bell Canada division is launching Monday, will let customers watch regular TV programming on their smartphones, home computers and streaming devices such as Apple TV.


Wade Oosterman, group president of Bell Canada, says the intent is to win new business from people who might not even own a TV set but still want to watch live events, sports and news on their laptops or tablets.

“There are folks – I would say, primarily singles and couples living in condos – they may not have a traditional television service, but they still enjoy good programming. This product is really aimed at them,” he said in an interview.

At $15 per month for the entry-level package of about 30 channels, it’s also meant for cost-conscious customers wary of bloated telecom bills. However, Alt TV customers must also subscribe to Bell’s home Internet service (to start, it will only be available to those with unlimited data plans and download speeds of at least 25 megabits per second).

Telus Corp. recently introduced a similar product, priced at $20 per month, for its Internet customers in Alberta and British Columbia. (“Pik TV” also requires subscribers to purchase a $100 set-top box that they must install themselves.)

“I think it’s going to be great for value-seekers,” Telus CEO Darren Entwistle said last week, noting it will help the Vancouver-based company compete against both online streaming products as well as its cable TV rival Shaw Communications Inc.

Lots of Canadians still do have traditional cable, satellite or Internet-protocol television (IPTV) subscriptions, but the numbers are steadily declining rather than growing with the population. According to the federal broadcast regulator, in 2015, there were 11.2 million households with a TV subscription, down from 11.5 million in 2012.

Telephone companies like Bell and Telus launched IPTV products almost a decade ago, allowing them to compete with cable operators for TV customers who weren’t interested in satellite options. As IPTV became more advanced, customers were drawn to features like the ability to record, pause and watch TV on different devices.

But growth in IPTV subscriptions is also slowing as customers turn to online options like Netflix and cable competitors are finally starting to hit back with next-generation television platforms of their own that have features similar to IPTV.

Bell added 22,000 Fibe TV customers in the first quarter of the year, down from 48,000 in the same period a year earlier. Telus doesn’t break out IPTV numbers from its overall TV subscriber base, which includes satellite subscribers, but it added 7,000 TV customers in the period, a 36-per-cent decrease from the first quarter of 2016.

With their new services, Bell and Telus hope to win business from people who never would have subscribed to a regular television package. But they also want to protect their existing base of TV subscribers by limiting the features on the less expensive offerings.

For example, Alt TV won’t come with features such as the ability to record, pause or restart live shows. Users will only be able to stream content on up to two devices at once and the picture quality won’t be as good as on Bell’s regular Fibe TV service.

The new service also requires some level of technological comfort – you have to understand how to stream it on one of your own devices and a Bell technician won’t visit your home to set it up for you (which is a cost savings for the company).

Alt TV will only be available where Bell has a broadcast licence and has purchased content rights. “It’s delivered over our own private managed network, not the open Internet,” Mr. Oosterman said, explaining how he sees the service as different from a live-TV streaming product Toronto startup VMedia Inc. tried to launch last year. Bell fought that service in court and won.

It will initially offer Alt TV to Internet customers in Ontario and Quebec and will later expand to the Atlantic provinces and Manitoba. The packages, which will include the ability to add on sports and other specialty channels, are all about $10 per month cheaper than Bell’s traditional Fibe TV options. Bell says it will consider expanding the offer to customers who do not subscribe to unlimited Internet packages at a later date.

Always a catch.

The name is unfortunate..

 

[Fatalah]

Alt noooooooooo!

 

[Fallout-NL]

Why the hell would you pick that name?

 

[Astral/H3X]

Why the hell would you pick that name?

To be fair, it's Canada, so they don't have to deal with alt facts and alt right as much as Americans do.

 

[PumpkinSpice]

Their TV services are already internet based, and already not that expensive if you get internet from them. And you can already use their app and website to watch stuff on phone/tablet/PC.

So I guess the difference is you don't get a set top box?

I guess maybe this is useful for people that don't have an actual TV?

 

[SirMossyBloke]

Their TV services are already internet based, and already not that expensive if you get internet from them. And you can already use their app and website to watch stuff on phone/tablet/PC.

So I guess the difference is you don't get a set top box?

I guess maybe this is useful for people that don't have an actual TV?

Well yes, you can already watch this stuff online already, but you have to be already paying for their settop, regular service.

They see this way of doing the same thing except not paying for any equipment.

One thing I do not like about watching their stuff on a PC is the quality. It's sub 720p with god awful stuttering, and of course doesn't support 60fps for live content. If it looked and ran like a Netflix show does, then it wouldn't be so bad.

 

[Kabuki Quantum Lover]

So you need to subscribe to their overpriced internet service for this diminutive TV package.

Yeah, no, fuck off, Bell.

 

[sikkinixx]

I'd throw bell or Telus (if they didn't make me buy a box) $15ish a month for a limited set of channels (CTV, Global, City etc) that my antenna doesn't get super clearly. Doesn't look like we'll get this in BC though and the Telus one... is cable TV. No more boxes. I already use my Apple TV for everything.

MLB and the Sportsnet Now subs have changed the way I wanna watch tv.

 

[mullet2000]

Baddddd name

 

[IdreamofHIME]

Mostly Duck Dynasty reruns I presume?

 

[capitalCORN]

Fuck you Bell. Fuck you.

 

[winjet81]

The reason people don't want a regular TV subscription is that they want complete PVR control of their shows to watch them at their own convenience and WITHOUT commercials.

So Bell tries to entice them with a service that does not allow PVR controls and forces them to watch commercials?

Sounds like a company that hasn't got a clue.

 

[Hycran]

TV-Next
Next-TV

There you go, two free names better than what your shitty marketing department came up with.

 

[jstripes]

Available only to Bell Fibe internet subscribers.

So, not quite yet.

But for $15/month, I'd jump on this, just because my antenna can't get US channels.

TV-Next
Next-TV

There you go, two free names better than what your shitty marketing department came up with.

Rogers already has something unrelated called the NextBox.

This is why people get paid to come up with names.

 

[KarmaCow]

For example, Alt TV won’t come with features such as the ability to record, pause or restart live shows. Users will only be able to stream content on up to two devices at once and the picture quality won’t be as good as on Bell’s regular Fibe TV service.

The new service also requires some level of technological comfort – you have to understand how to stream it on one of your own devices and a Bell technician won’t visit your home to set it up for you (which is a cost savings for the company).

So this is for no one.

 

[Fusilli Craig]

Weird that the article goes into depth about Telus' offer but omits Rogers and Shaw's comparable projects.

With the way settop boxes are subsidized now I would say the lack of a need for one is no real selling feature. The move to an app based model for convenience is certainly good but pricing will continue to be a hurdle.

 

[CaviarMeths]

Well it certainly looks like Bell does not understand why people are cutting cable.

 

[blame space]

Somewhere carles is crying

 

[BocoDragon]

To be fair, it's Canada, so they don't have to deal with alt facts and alt right as much as Americans do.

 

[gutter_trash]

What about existing Bell Fibe costumers?

Anyway way to migrate from Fibe to tge Alt-App?

I'm looking to cut costs

Well it certainly looks like Bell does not understand why people are cutting cable.

So true

 

[baddvision]

Fuck you Bell. Fuck you.

this. stop giving them money!

 

[PumpkinSpice]

this. stop giving them money!

Please point me at another company that offers gigabit fiber to the door, no caps, in Ottawa and I will.

Until then they can take my money, the speed is well worth it.

 

[LakeEarth]

I'd gladly spend $15-20 for basic cable using the internet. Easy. But there always seems to be a catch in Canada.

Speaking of Bell, will they ever expand the CraveTV app to more devices? Right now it's like ... Samsung TVs, Apple TV and the Xbox One only. Netflix puts its app on any device it can, it even has a 3DS app for godsake! If Bell wants to compete with Netflix, they will have to, ya know, COMPETE with Netflix.

 

[Jebusman]

Speaking from Nova Scotia, your two options are Bell and Eastlink.

They are effectively priced the same.

Anything to help get the cost of TV down from either would be appreciated, even if I don't have much care for it nowadays.

 

[crimzonflame]

A lot of people I know own an IPTV box and pay $10 a month for hundreds of channels. I think its illegal though, but I see stores selling them all over Toronto.

 

[kevin1025]

I'd gladly spend $15-20 for basic cable using the internet. Easy. But there always seems to be a catch in Canada.

Speaking of Bell, will they ever expand the CraveTV app to more devices? Right now it's like ... Samsung TVs, Apple TV and the Xbox One only. Netflix puts its app on any device it can, it even has a 3DS app for godsake! If Bell wants to compete with Netflix, they will have to, ya know, COMPETE with Netflix.

They updated their Twitter answer from "soon" to "very soon" for Roku and PS4. But given how their TMN Go app never left Xbox One and Apple TV, I'm not expecting much.

The major, major downside to this is the no DVR or recording stuff. The whole point of cord-cutting is to have the ability to watch whatever, whenever. The idea of TV internet is great, but if I'm not able to record the things I want to a hard drive or whatever (encrypted so I can't steal it), then what's the point?

 

[jstripes]

A lot of people I know own an IPTV box and pay $10 a month for hundreds of channels. I think its illegal though, but I see stores selling them all over Toronto.

The services they run on are illegal, and they're made by fly-by-night Chinese companies. If those services get cut off, don't expect any sort of technical support to get them running again.

 

[bremon]

I'll stick with Internet, Netflix and my antenna, thanks. Would have liked to watch the Oilers on sportsnet in these playoffs but at this point I'd rather watch whatever playoff hockey is free OTA on CBC. Bought my antenna 3 years ago and haven't looked back.