CBS service not quite All Access
Restrictions to water down streaming service’s offering when it launches in Canada
While its name suggests a world of entertainment free of limitations, CBS All Access will come with some familiar restrictions when it arrives in Canada next year.
Even though the U.S. streaming platform is known for a roster of exclusive TV series, including the upcoming sci-fi adventure Star Trek: Discovery, viewers won’t find any of those buzzworthy shows on the Canadian version of the service.
That’s because CBS All Access has already licensed some of its biggest projects to Canadian broadcasters as part of a high-stakes battle for TV content.
In the case of Star Trek, the rights belong to Bell Media, which plans to debut the series on CTV on Sept. 24 before running episodes on Space and Z, its French cable channel.
The show will eventually turn up on CraveTV, the company’s streaming service.
Meanwhile, The Good Wife spinoff The Good Fight is owned by Corus and airs on W Network, while Global broadcasts CBS’s Big Brother reality series.
Without Star Trek or its other big titles, the CBS All Access service faces a tougher sell to Canadians when it arrives in the first half of 2018.
“This is the problem with all this stuff — it doesn’t translate to Canada in the same way as it exists in the States,” says Brahm Eiley, president of Convergence Research Group. “Expect it to not be the full menu.” Popular prime-time CBS hits such as Big Bang Theory, Madam Secretary and NCIS usually stream on CBS All Access a day after they’re broadcast, but it’s unclear whether existing contracts with Canadian broadcasters will strip fresh episodes off the service here as well. A representative for CBS declined to offer further details.
Streaming video blockades are a familiar experience for many Canadians who have severed ties with their
“This is the problem with all this stuff — it doesn’t translate to Canada in the same way as it exists in the States.” BRAHM EILEY CONVERGENCE RESEARCH GROUP
cable provider only to find few legal alternatives to watch their favourite TV shows.
In the U.S., viewers can pay $14.99 per month to subscribe to the streaming service HBO Now without a cable package, which offers access to Game of Thrones and the network’s other hit series.
In Canada, access to HBO costs $20 a month — but only in tandem with a TV package, it cannot be legally pur- chased independently.
That’s driven some fans to borrow streaming logins from friends with cable, or scour the internet for pirated copies of the latest episodes.
Eiley says the announcement by CBS All Access to explore international markets could be a negotiation tactic to drive up the value of its TV series. Canadian broadcasters want big-budget shows with familiar names to fill their prime-time lineups and will pay top dollar.
Last week, CBS All Access announced three new projects, including Strange Angel from executive producer Ridley Scott, and No Activity, produced by Will Ferrell. If CBS decides to sell the rights of the series to Canadian broadcasters, CBS All Access could have scant new offerings for users here, beyond a library of old hits.
In the U.S., the streaming service also houses a vast library of classic TV series such as Cheers, Beverly Hills 90210 and Taxi.
A monthly subscription to CBS All Access costs $5.99 per month in the U.S., while users can pay $9.99 for a commercial-free version. Prices for Canada haven’t been announced.
Kaan Yigit, a technology analyst at Solutions Research Group, questions whether those older titles will be enough to convince customers to pay for the service.
“I suppose there is some value in catalogue but I’m uncertain about market potential,” he said.
“But (it’s) of course important symbolically as it indicates where the video market is going — subscription-based streaming.”