TORONTO – Starting Tuesday, December 5, each of CBC’s 14 regional linear TV channels will be live-streamed along side a whole host of additional CBC content which will be made available direct to consumers in ways the public broadcaster’s content has not before as it takes the lid off of an upgraded app and web portal.
CBC executive vice-president of English services, Heather Conway, told employees in a memo Monday that in order to keep up with the Netflixes of the world, CBC content has to be available on all platforms at all times to all Canadians.
“When we first introduced these platforms in March 2016, we told you to expect more changes as part of our commitment to constant iteration and improvement,” she told the company. (As an fyi, on the French side, Radio-Canada has enjoyed success with its OTT platform tou.TV, for more than six years.)
“Many Canadians are getting more and more of their content from digital OTT services like Netflix. We need to ensure our audiences can get CBC in the same way… Our OTT strategy is driven by shifts in audience behaviour and a desire to be a truly audience-focused, data-driven, multi-platform video service and modern public broadcaster.”
The primary new things Canadians will be able to do with CBC content as of Tuesday is stream live TV; watch full current episodes and complete seasons of CBC shows on demand with new episodes added every day; watch episodes on demand as soon as they air on TV; gain access to exclusive series that haven’t aired on CBC TV but will be on OTT; ad-free kids TV.
Also – viewers will be able to pick up where they left off watching shows on multiple devices, to pick up where they left off a show at home, on their phone.
CBC TV is also introducing authentication, too, allowing audiences to sign in with a CBC account and granting them access to more features.
As well, any user who wants to watch CBC content OTT without ads can take advantage of the new “premium membership” for $4.99. The content will be continue to be made available at no charge for those willing to watch commercials.
“The number of unique visitors we see using the CBC TV digital service each month grew to over 1.1 million in November 2017. We’ve also moved up to a 4.6/5 star rating on the App Store (iOS version). It is our hope that this new offering will entice an increasing portion of our audience to spend even more time with us each month,” added Conway’s memo.
As a further breakdown, here is what the CBC is now offering to Canadians with the premium $4.99 option:
Full episodes on demand
New episodes same day as TV
CBC TV live 24/7 from all regions
Continue watching across devices
Ad-free on demand episodes
CBC News Network live stream
First acces to new personalized features coming in the future
Viewers who'd rather not pay but who will still register for an account will get:
Full episodes on demand
New episodes same day as TV
CBC TV live 24/7 from all regions
Continue watching across devices
First access to new personalized features coming in the future
For those who don't want to pay or sign up for an account, you can get:
Full episodes on demand
New episodes same day as TV
CBC TV live 24/7 from all regions
Premium membership is only available for purchase on the Apple iOS and Apple TV App Store right now. In April 2018 it will be available on cbc.ca/watch and various other Android devices.
As well, beginning in April 2018, audiences will have to sign in for an account in order to continue enjoying past seasons of shows and to live stream CBC TV.
Watch for more on this story Tuesday and to see the portal, check out cbc.ca/watch
