At the beginning of this month, Bell Media rebranded CraveTV as Crave.ca, integrating HBO Canada streaming for the first time, along with bundling in content from The Movie Network.
Crave is offered as a standalone streaming service, available to Canadians via the Internet or through their cable TV provider. Two packages are available at $9.99 per month for just Crave and $19.98 per month which is Crave plus movies and full HBO plus expanded content.
When it comes to streaming quality, Crave currently streams at max 720p, according to the company’s FAQ. This has caused some customers to question Crave about when 1080p and 4K streaming will be available.
iPhone in Canada reader @RaminBourne tweeted, “I can watch Netflix @ 4K as well as HBO Now, Starz, Showtime @ 1080p with no issue. How is it your service can’t deliver 1080p to my @Coextro service?!! If this is NOT enough, I don’t know what is!! No further lecture … my speed is the same no matter time of day or night!”
The @CraveHelp account responded, “Crave is diligently working to provide the best streaming service in Canada and we’ll be implementing an option to stream content in 4K in the near future. Stay tuned.”
Crave is diligently working to provide the best streaming service in Canada and we'll be implementing an option to stream content in 4K in the near future. Stay tuned. ^RP
— Crave Help (@CraveHelp) November 12, 2018
There’s no word whether a 4K streaming option for Crave will cost more per month, as is the case with Netflix. If a more expensive 4K streaming option is coming for Crave, we’d guess a timely release date would be to coincide with the final season of HBO’s Game of Thrones, pegged for early 2019, don’t you think?
On a side note, support for Apple TV is coming later this week.
Are you using Crave right now? How do you find the streaming quality?
Update Nov. 12/18: Bell has officially launched the Crave app for Apple TV.
