TORONTO – Bell Media’s CraveTV streaming service will be available to all Canadians with an Internet connection beginning early in 2016, the company said Monday.
When it launched last December, the service was firmly tied to a paid TV service subscription. But that strategy has changed, just weeks after Rogers and Shaw-owned shomi announced that it would open up to all Canadian Internet users this summer. It was not revealed whether CraveTV would continue with its $4 per month price tag.
“As our business model has continued to evolve, the time is right to also offer CraveTV as a standalone product,” said Bell Media president Mary Ann Turcke, in the news release. “We are pleased to provide TV lovers across Canada with full access to the thousands of hours of premium television programming available on CraveTV.”
CraveTV is currently available to subscribers through a number 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.
Highlighted by exclusive HBO and Showtime titles, CraveTV’s content also includes back seasons of big TV series currently on air, complete catalogues of past TV hits, and original series.
