Here's why Canadian streaming is a disaster.
As a long time cord cutter and an entrepreneur who helps everyday Canadians navigate the world of streaming, one of the constant questions I have to answer from potential clients is why the current crop of Canadian streaming services are so lacking even in this day and age.
We constantly must explain to would be cord cutters that any domestic streaming service will never be as robust as similar offerings from streaming services from the US or other countries. In fact Canadian broadcasters make things so confusing for folks that most people who are tired of cable have no choice but to resort to finding other ways to get content.
While there has been some growth in streaming options from Canadian media companies they still drastically lag behind the US and other countries.
You can see the list of assets from Corus. They include channels like Global TV, HGTV Canada, Food Network Canada, DIY Network Canada, History, National Geographic, Showcase, W Network, Slice, YTV, Teletoon, Treehouse, Nickelodeon, Adult Swim, Disney Channel and Nat Geo Wild.
Corus recently updated their Global TV app to include a lot of the channels they operate. When you open the app you will see that you can navigate content from Global TV, History Food Network Canada, HGTV Canada, W Network, Slice, Showcase, National Geographic & Adult Swim.
Treehouse has its own separate subscription service with it’s own streaming app but that has recently be shut down.
The current Global TV App is a TV Everywhere app. If you aren't familiar with that term you'll definitely have experienced it is since any Canadian trying to stream something at some point has run into this problem.
You go to watch a show via your computer, tablet, smartphone or other streaming device only to find out that the show you want to watch requires you to 'sign in' with a cable providers login and password.
So even though when you open the new Global TV app you might think you’re all set and will be able to watch everything you want without the need for cable, you quickly realize that this isn’t the case. The vast majority of content on most of the Canadian channels streaming apps, not just Global is locked behind a cable login and password requirement. Both the CTV and City TV streaming apps have the same issue.
So let's pick two very specific shows to use as an example that Corus owns the Canadian rights for.
Top Chef and the locally produced Top Chef Canada show.
If I go back to the Global TV streaming app and do a search for both Top Chef and Top Chef Canada you will find both.
The good news is that the Global app tells me I can watch 4 full seasons of Top Chef Canada. Seasons 5, 6, 7 and 8 are free and I don't have to sign in with any cable provider.
All I'll have to endure is commercials. Except when you look closer Seasons 8 - 6 of the show has all 8 episodes. Season 5 however only has episodes 1 - 5 when there are supposed to be 10 episodes.
How can half of the episodes just be missing?
I only knew there were supposed to be 10 episodes after looking it up on Google. The Food Network Canada's website doesn't even have any information on Season 5 on their own episode guide.
Again it's worth pointing out that this show is a Canadian made show. You know how all the Canadian broadcasters and cable companies keep telling us how important Canadian content is?
Seasons 1- 4 of Top Chef Canada are nowhere to be found on the Global TV app. On the Food Network website only seasons 6 - 8 are available to watch.
It gets worse with the US originating version of the show. Top Chef is on the Global TV app, but only the most recent season 17 and I can't watch it because I need to sign in with a cable provider login and password.
But wait Corus has a solution for this because even as a cord cutter who doesn't pay for cable I can subscribe and pay to watch content from Corus by using their new service called Stack TV. There is a catch though.
First I have to subscribe to Amazon Prime Canada for $7.99 Canadian a month or $79.00 Canadian a year. Then once I've done that I can subscribe to Stack TV as an add on for an additional $12.99 Canadian a month.
So did subscribing to Stack TV get me what I wanted?
Here is where things really fall apart.
First let's start with Top Chef Canada. Stack TV has the show but only seasons 7 & 8. At least they have all the episodes of each of those seasons, but one question remains.
How can a paid subscription service from the same company have less content than their sister TV Everywhere app?
When it comes to the US version of Top Chef they do have seasons 16 & 17 of the series, but seasons 1 - 15 are nowhere to be found on Stack TV.
Even when I try and search in the Canadian iTunes store to buy seasons of Top Chef Canada only season 7 is available. When I try and search on Amazon, it takes me to the Stack TV seasons. No other seasons are available to purchase.
The Google Play store offers the same single season of Top Chef Canada for purchase.
So basically if you wanted to binge watch every season of Top Chef Canada and the US Top Chef series you would have no way to do so in Canada.
At this point it’s important to point out that this is exhausting. Why is it this hard to find what I want to watch? It’s also important to note that even if I had cable there is no way for me to access and watch every season of either of these shows.
Although we’re only citing one specific example this process is the same for so many other tv shows on other networks as well.
So how are things different in the US?
Well Top Chef Canada is nowhere to be found in the US, but the original Top Chef series isn’t even a Food Network show. It is in fact a Bravo show in the US. Bravo does have a streaming app but it’s also a TV Everywhere app that requires a US cable login and password to verify and even their app only has the latest season.
Except this is why streaming is better outside of Canada.
Bravo is owned and operated by NBC who recently launched their own streaming service earlier this year called Peacock. Every single season of Top Chef is on Peacock but it costs $4.99 US a month. Even with the exchange rate that’s far less than Amazon Prime Canada plus Stack TV.
Top Chef is also on Hulu under Bravo. The only season missing there was season 17.
Top Chef is also on the reality based subscription streaming service hayu.
Even beyond Canada there are better options. As an example Australia which has a similar sized population to Canada has better streaming options.
Network 10 is one of five national free-to-air networks in Australia whose streaming app is free to use and has tons of US based shows. They produce a local version of Master Chef and you can find all 12 seasons of that show on their streaming app.
Even though I used a specific example using Corus and their streaming offerings this problem is not specific to Corus.
I can pick really any US show that is on a Canadian networks like CTV (Bell) & City TV (Rogers) and come to the same conclusion.
The way people want to watch entertainment has shifted for good, but the broadcasters in Canada haven’t.
The old model of licencing US content to broadcast on their traditional TV channels but not getting the full digital streaming rights for shows means that Canadians are left in a black hole with no options to stream when the desire is there.
Instead the Canadian media companies here continue to deny US streaming services the ability to expand their operations into Canada continually citing the need for Canadian content mandates while at the same time making most of their revenue off of US based licensed content.
If Canadian content was so important then every Canadian produced show would be easily accessible on any of their current platforms, but as the example with Top Chef Canada proves, it’s not.
People want options and they are willing to pay a reasonable fee to access this content.
The Canadian networks will never ever be able to meet this demand though, not unless they completely shift their focus. 2020 has only amplified the need for this change to come quicker.
People are at home more and starved for more content while also more conscious of their spending.
It’s time for things to change. If the Canadian networks can’t offer up what people want then they need to get out of the way and let someone who can. It shouldn’t be this difficult in this day and age to get what you want.
It doesn’t have to be that difficult and that’s where we help our customers. We help would be cord cutters gain access to whatever streaming options they want.
Tell us about your own streaming struggles in the comments below.
About Kutko:
Kutko is a Canadian based cord cutting company that offers help to every day Canadians on how to get rid of cable and cut the cord.
If you are interested in cutting the cable cord and not sure where to start then get in touch with us and arrange your free phone consultation today.