Nearly 160,000 Canadians Cancelled Cable TV in 2015: CRTC

Watching television cable

According to a CRTC report published earlier this week, almost 160,000 Canadians cancelled their TV subscription last year. However, Canadian cable television, IPTV and satellite television companies managed to offset the loss by charging remaining customers more for their services, CBC News reports. On the other hand, IPTV companies like VMedia, Primus, Zazeen and ViaNet TV saw double-digit increases in their customer numbers during 2015 compared with the previous year.

The broadcast regulator says the overall number of TV subscribers dipped from 11,404,591 in 2014 to 11,246,669 in 2015. That’s a decrease of 157,992 people. While the number of TV subscribers declined, the hit to the companies’ bottom line wasn’t quite as dire, as revenues dipped by just 0.1 per cent to $8.9 billion. 

That’s because TV providers managed to squeeze more money out of their remaining customers by offering them expanded or better services. The average TV subscriber’s monthly bill ticked up from $65.25 in 2014 to $66.08 in 2015.

The report highlights that overall, the TV industry saw its costs of doing business increase by 1.3 per cent to $7.2 billion. TV companies spent less on making Canadian content last year, with the total falling by $38.1 million to $436.9 million. “Of this amount, $219.6 million was directed to the Canada Media Fund, $64.7 million to independent funds and $152.6 million to community channels and other sources of local content,” notes the report.

Have you noticed a recent increase in your monthly bills for cable or satellite TV?

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