The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition a sweeping review of Canada's television industry
yielded its first big changes Thursday. The unbylined item says, however, the CRTC's efforts
to modernize traditional TV are a delicate balancing act as
the landscape shifts under the TV industry's feet.
More than 40 per cent of adults viewed TV shows
on-line in 2013, and 29 per cent of Canadians
have access to a Netflix subscription. That has left traditional TV giants fighting
to keep their subscribers as popular video streaming
services challenge established broadcasters with
more original shows. Bell Media announced a deal with CBS on
Thursday securing long-term Canadian rights on to
programming on Showtime.
It will air both on traditional TV and the
streaming platform CraveTV.
Earlier this month, Bell and competitors Rogers
and Shaw made deals to bring shows created by Amazon, including the Golden
Globe Award-winning Transparent. Jean-Pierre Blais,
the CRTC's chairman, has noted that the viewer "is
in charge" now, and applauded Bell, Rogers and
Shaw for meeting the challenge by launching their
own streaming services, Shomi and CraveTV.
That, in turn, has made the TV market more
crowded.
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