From a media release:
Bell Media’s CraveTV to Go Direct to Consumers on January 1
- All Canadians with access to the Internet can soon enjoy CraveTV’s premium TV programming, including HBO and SHOWTIME content
Bell Media announced today that its premium TV streaming service CraveTVTM will become available direct to consumers on January 1, 2016. Today’s announcement means that the breadth and depth of premium, quality television programming available exclusively on CraveTV will soon also be offered to all Canadians with access to the Internet. More details will follow in the months ahead.
CraveTV is currently available to subscribers of a long list of participating television providers, including Bell, Eastlink, and Telus, via set-top box, mobile apps, the web, Apple TV, Chromecast, and Microsoft Windows 8, and will soon be available via game consoles and Smart TVs.
From TV’s most-acclaimed dramas and beloved comedies to documentaries, music, and factual programming, CraveTV features thousands of hours of premium TV programming, representing hundreds of unique titles.
CraveTV provides viewers with the largest collection of premium content in one place, with programming in three categories – exclusive past-season content, featuring back seasons of television’s biggest programs currently on air; an extensive and exclusive library, featuring complete catalogues of some of the best TV series that have ever aired; and original series never before seen in Canada. CraveTV features more than 20 curated collections across multiple genres, boasting more than 25,000 episodes from nearly 1,300 titles, including:
- the entire off-air library of HBO’s iconic programming catalogue, including THE SOPRANOS, THE WIRE, and SEX AND THE CITY, as well as the HBO Films catalogue and HBO stand-up comedy specials;
- hundreds of hours of acclaimed SHOWTIME series and specials, such as THE AFFAIR, RAY DONOVAN, PENNY DREADFUL, HOMELAND, UNITED STATES OF TARA, WEEDS, and NURSE JACKIE;
- an unmatchable comedy slate headlined by CraveTV exclusives SEINFELD and SOUTH PARK, and also including THE BIG BANG THEORY, CHEERS, FRASIER, and CORNER GAS;
- an exclusive Monty Python catalogue featuring every single episode of MONTY PYTHON’S FLYING CIRCUS;
- first-run CraveTV exclusives, including MANHATTAN, BOSCH, and DEADBEAT and SHOWTIME’s HAPPYISH;
- the most-watched and most-acclaimed original Canadian primetime scripted programming, featuring SAVING HOPE, MOTIVE, 19-2, FLASHPOINT, and DEGRASSI;
- a Superhero collection headlined by some of the most-watched television programs currently on air, including MARVEL’s AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D., ARROW and, later in 2015, THE FLASH;
- a Sci-Fi & Fantasy collection led by genre blockbusters ORPHAN BLACK and DOCTOR WHO, and featuring all six series comprising the complete STAR TREK TV collection;
- an iconic Music Collection featuring TV programming expressly dedicated to music and its legends, including the upcoming FOO FIGHTERS: SONIC HIGHWAYS and CLASSIC ALBUMS; and
- CraveTV Original Series like the upcoming comedy LETTERKENNY
Hmmm. I’ll definitely subscribe but I don’t think we’ll drop my satellite tv service. We share it with my my mother and father in law and my brother in law so we split the bill 3 ways because it makes it more affordable ($127 is too expensive for any of us to pay on our own and it allows us to get all the channels rather than just a basic package). Our household is in a rural area without access to cheaper cable options so my inlaws subscribe to satellite to help us out even though they have cheaper options where they live near Edmonton. Truthfully, Crave TV and Netflix combined have more than enough shows combined to keep me with enough stuff to watch but my internet (satellite internet, again, our only option) gets to slow to stream 50% of the time so until our internet improves, I can’t cut Bell satellite.
—
Another big concern of mine is sports. Until Bell and Roger launch good sports streaming apps that don’t require a cable/satellite subscription, I won’t consider throwing out my satellite. I would miss Jets games, Roughriders games and The Olympics way too much.