$20/month Pik TV aimed at cord-nevers
VANCOUVER – Telus has soft-launched a new, live, subscription television service to seven communities in British Columbia and Alberta.
Called Pik TV, it provides live TV and on demand content, as well an interface to popular streaming services like Netflix and YouTube, without a contract, starting at $20/month. The new service offers a slimmed-down feature set from Optik TV, giving customers more choice to design an entertainment experience around how they want to watch. It runs on smartphones, tablets and an Android TV powered box the company is distributing.
The news was first reported by Multichannel News, whose staffers saw a demo of the product at the Ericsson booth at NAB.
It’s available now to non-Optik customers in Red Deer, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Grande Prairie, Victoria, Saanich and Prince George. After this initial testing period, the company plans a wider rollout in May.
Customers can get up to 23 live, local TV channels (the CRTC’s mandated “skinny basic” roster), VOD access, plus five specialty channels out of a choice of 18 so far. Additional channels beyond the first five can be had for $4 each per month. Sports packages can’t be included in those first five and start at an additional $15/month. A package of TMN, HBO and CraveTV comes at an additional $20/month.
“Pik TV will definitely appeal to cord-cutters and cord-nevers who perhaps didn’t see the value in a full set of TV features (PVR, multiple TVs, wireless set-top boxes, etc.) but still want the ability to access to watch their favourite shows or sporting events live,” a Telus spokesperson explained in an email to Cartt.ca. “It’s not about getting users into any particular pipeline, but rather offering a broader set of choices for our customers to choose the service that best meets their needs."
While this looks like a product which could be extended beyond Telus’ wired footprint and across the country, (if Telus wanted to make a massive strategy shift), “at present, there are no plans to extend the service outside of our television footprint,” added the spokesperson.
As for those who contacted Cartt.ca since this story broke wondering whether Pik TV is on side with the regulations, given its lack of certain category A channels available, Telus says the new brand is simply a repackage. "Pik TV is offered only in areas where we offer Optik TV and this is necessarily the case because Pik TV is merely a different packaging option of our Optik TV service," wrote VP broadcast policy and regulatory affairs Anne Mainville-Neeson in an email to Cartt.ca. "Pik TV offers a limited selection of channels for a very good price. Any subscriber who wants more selection can get Optik TV. Accordingly, all the Cat A services are being carried by Telus' licensed BDU service. This is no different than a situation where a large package of services excludes some Cat A services."
