Bell TV launches HBO Canada (yes, in HD)
by Darren Murph 
posted Sep 27th 2008 at 12:38AM
Time to party down, Bell TV customers. Your television provider just announced that it will add HBO Canada in SD and HD to its lineup on October 30th. Also of note, the channel will be offered on secondary SD and HD slots which will deliver the same programming with a two-hour time difference (okay?). HBO Canada will be included with all Bell TV subscriptions to The Movie Network or Movie Central at no extra cost, and hey -- just in time for Halloween, too!
Filed under: HBO-HD
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Evan @ Sep 27th 2008 10:25AM
HBO has been trying to come to Canada for years, but the anti-competitive, anti-consumer CRTC has blocked them because HBO would "compete" against The Movie Network and Movie Central. The CRTC flat out refused to grant HBO a license just three years ago!
The only way HBO was allowed into Canada this time was by making a deal with The Movie Network and Movie Central that would be considered monopolistic in most countries:
- HBO conceded to take over the ailing MMore station (which is also owned by The Movie Network's parent company).
- HBO conceded to devote 25% of it's airtime to Canadian shows (which will no doubt be purchased from The Movie Network and Movie Central's parent companies - Astral Media and Corus Entertainment).
- HBO conceded to be bundled with The Movie Network and Movie Central, so that consumers are not allowed to choose HBO *instead* of the existing channels.
This is a disgusting state of affairs! Competition is good - it promotes businesses to improve and offers consumers choice - but the CRTC doesn't see it this way.
morgan @ Oct 2nd 2008 9:41PM
As a member of the Canadian television industry I have a different take on the CRTC regulations and actually applaud this "deal".
All HBO and Showtime content has been available on The Movie Network for years and so there was no reason to approve a seperate HBO channel that would be American owned and not produce Canadian content like TMN.
Without canadian content restrictions, not only would thousands of professionals like myself be out of a job, but millions and millions of dollars would be lost from the Canadian economy as all programing would be bought from abroad and nothing would be produced in the country.
The CRTC is not perfect, but it's NOT anti-competitive or anti-consumer!
morgan @ Oct 2nd 2008 7:27PM
FYI - it's not just Bell. Rogers will be offering the same thing.