Ten channels the CRTC's pick-and-pay proposals could kill

À la carte cable sounds good, but it could also reduce the number of Canadian channels on the dial.

Canada Supreme Court rejects value-for-signal television plan
Ashley Csanady
Published: August 22, 2014 - 5:54 PM
Updated: August 25, 2014 - 1:43 PM

Canadians may soon be allowed to pick their cable options from an à la carte menu, but they may get a lot less than they bargained for.

In fact, a few of their favourite channels may disappear if the plans go ahead full steam. Children’s programming and channels like Treehouse TV would be in particular danger, as would Canadian mainstays like Showcase.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is mulling a $30 maximum for basic cable and a new pick-and-pay model to allow consumers to buy just the channels they want instead of bundles of programming.

“For most people, they’re probably going to come out with fewer channels but for the same price.”

“Yes, if you really only want a small number of channels, then you’re probably going to come out ahead, but for most people, they’re probably going to come out with fewer channels but for the same price,” said Michael Hennessy, president and CEO of the Canadian Media Production Association.

Many channels included in bundles count on the fees they receive as part of mass subscription, Hennessy said. Being a part of the bundle allows them to sell more ads, whereas removing them from bundles would reduce both income streams and, in turn, many channels would raise their prices and lose more subscribers.

The CRTC is also considering eliminating “simultaneous substitution” — the fancy word for why we don’t see American Superbowl ads. Canadian providers and stations are allowed to pipe local ads over American ones to help them offset the cost of buying big events like the Oscars or hot network TV series. Removing that provision will kill another revenue stream for Canadian networks already struggling to compete against online options.

“This could be very dangerous for the system,” said Ian Morrison, a spokesperson for Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, an independent broadcasting and media watchdog. “Generally speaking, American channels will win,” and Canadians ones will lose.

Six-month-old baby gets a hold of the remote the best way he knows how.

Six-month-old Berk Korney gets a hold of the remote the best way he knows how. (Gord Waldner/Star Phoenix)

Children’s programming is of particular concern, because channels like Treehouse TV are entirely subscription based and ad-free.

“To sacrifice children’s programming simply to market forces… would be an egregious offence,” Hennessy said.

The CRTC encourages Canadians to add their thoughts to the discussion online. Spokesperson Patricia Valladao said they have to consider market forces against the “real risk” some specialty channels will be lost.

“If these channels have to survive alone, they might not be as popular,” she said.

Here are 10 channels that might disappear if the full suite of CRTC changes are adopted:

Treehouse TV

The toddler-friendly TV channel offers ad-free, often education programming for young kids and toddlers. Its subscription rates would fall drastically if it were dropped from a larger package of channels since most Canadians don’t have little ones at home.

Family Channel

The channel survives on saccharine tween rom-coms that are age appropriate. Because it’s offered by an independent company and not part of a big vertically integrated company like Shaw, Bell or Rogers, it could lose a lot of revenue if sold independently. Hennessy wondered why we don’t consider kids’ TV the same as the education system: everyone pays for it because they either used it at some point or will again through their children or grandchildren.


The channel plays movies and offers Canadian drama like Lost Girl, a supernatural thriller about a succubus. An adaptation of the bestselling novel Outlander premieres on the network this weekend.


It’s most recent Canadian offering, The People’s Couch, let’s you watch fellow Canucks watch TV. It also carries Suits and the Dallas reboot.

The Biography Channel

History nerds and Hollywood buffs share a love of this channel but it could have a hard time meeting its Canadian content promises if pick-and-pay is introduced and it loses subscribers.

The Mystery Channel

Even Sherlock Holmes might have a hard time unraveling the intricacies of how Canadian broadcasting works (and when it doesn’t) but his descendants may need a new home.

Travel and Escape

The independent channel fills Canadian wanderlust with shows about our national treasures and the world’s greatest sites, but it also engages with shows like BBQ Pitmasters, ghost-hunting shows and Happily Never After, a show about people who met their untimely ends close to their wedding days.

Vision TV

Canada self-described multi-faith religious cable television network may have a hard go of it in our increasingly secular society if it’s not part of a bundle.

Local news

Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, media unions and other stakeholders jointly funded a study that suggest 19 local, independent stations would be put at risk by the suite of proposed changes. It states: “independent stations in Canada’s smallest markets, like Kamloops, Medicine Hat, Lloydminster, Thunder Bay, and Rivière du Loup are particularly vulnerable.


The same report also states: “CTV2 network of stations in London, Ottawa, Barrie, Victoria and Pembroke would be at risk.”