Pay-Per-Channel comes to Canada as CRTC rules on flexible pricing

A pair of rulings from Canada's telecommunications regulator paves the way for "a la carte" TV services that would allow consumers to purchase only the channels they want, instead of buying specialty bundles from their cable or satellite operators, the Huffington Post reports.
The news will likely be welcome to many consumers who complain they are forced to pay for TV channels they don't want in order to gain access to a few they do want.
But under the new rules set out by the CRTC, viewers can expect to pay more per channel if they buy them individually, the Globe and Mail reported Friday.
Bell Media president Kevin Crull told the paper that many customers who now pay around 30 cents per channel for 250 channels may see their per-channel costs go up to as much as $1.50.
Cable and satellite providers won't be required to provide a-la-carte TV services. Telus, which was involved in a separate dispute with Bell over pricing and packaging, said in a statement to Huffington Post Canada that its ability to sell theme packs at set prices was affirmed by the CRTC ruling.
One of the main sticking points ironed out by the CRTC had to do with sports channels. Though they tend to be popular, channels like TSN and SportsNet are generally part of bundled TV packages, and research suggests that if a-la-carte TV were to happen, these channels would see a large drop in subscriptions.