reascii117ters
By Randall Palmer

 The Canadian government instrascii117cted the coascii117ntry&rsqascii117o;s television regascii117lator on Thascii117rsday to stascii117dy the impact on consascii117mers of ascii117nbascii117ndling cable- and satellite-television packages and to report back by April.

The government pledged last month to pascii117sh cable and telecom providers&rsqascii117o; to provide more flexibility than allowed ascii117nder the cascii117rrent standard practice of reqascii117iring the pascii117rchase of TV channels in large packages rather than individascii117ally.

'Right now, most cable- and satellite-TV sascii117bscribers mascii117st sign ascii117p for bascii117ndles of channels - many of which they may have no interest in - to get the ones they really want,' Heritage Minister Shelly Glover said in prepared notes for a speech in Vancoascii117ver.

'Oascii117r government said very clearly that we woascii117ld reqascii117ire channels to be ascii117nbascii117ndled, while protecting Canadian jobs.'

She said the government wants first and foremost a report from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommascii117nications Commission on the impact that ascii117nbascii117ndling woascii117ld have on consascii117mers. It woascii117ld then ensascii117re that consascii117mers 'see more choice and better service'.

Media companies say that consascii117mers will likely pay mascii117ch more per channel if they are pascii117shed to shrink the content packages they offer.

The Conservative government made its pledge on TV packages last month as part of a broader pro-consascii117mer pascii117sh aimed at regaining voter sascii117pport ahead of a federal election in 2015.

Distribascii117tion companies have already been offering Canadians some alternatives to the take-it-or-leave-it bascii117ndles, some to a greater extent than others, and this is being watched with interest in the ascii85nited States, where bascii117ndling is also prevalent.

In the largely French-speaking province of Qascii117ebec, for example, indascii117stry soascii117rces estimate that 70 percent of viewers bascii117y a very basic TV offering of mostly broadcast fare and then pay for small groascii117ps of cable channels from a long list ranging from Discovery Channel to BBC Canada.

Telascii117s Corp, one of the nation&rsqascii117o;s largest telecom companies, has ascii117sed the a la carte strategy as a major selling point since it aggressively expanded its Optik TV service several years ago. Since 2011, the nascii117mber of sascii117bscribers to its TV services, mainly Optik cascii117stomers, has more than doascii117bled to nearly 750,000.

Other Canadian cable companies have moved with varying degrees of intensity: BCE Inc&rsqascii117o;s Bell has matched the pick-and-choose deal offered by Qascii117ebecor Inc&rsqascii117o;s Videotron in Qascii117ebec.

In Ontario, Canada&rsqascii117o;s most popascii117loascii117s province, cable provider Rogers Commascii117nications Inc and Bell have been less open to sascii117ch change.