Four years ago, I wrote about the sports fans dilemma when it comes to cable television. Basically, you're screwed.
Yes, I'm well aware you can legally (and illegally) stream live sports, but at this point I just want to turn on Sportsnet or TSN or CBC and catch the game live in HD. Sometimes I'm watching hockey, sometimes I'm watching basketball, sometimes I'm watching baseball and sometimes it's tennis or soccer or whatever. Legally, it's expensive to purchase each league's streaming service, and illegally there a tremendous loss in quality and reliability. As I wrote back then, I pretty much live on CBC, TSN and Sportsnet. Three stations, that's it.
By March 1, TV providers in this country have to offer skinny basic packages and pick-and-pay channels. Considering I only want the three channels, you'd think this would save me a lot of money. Let's take a closer look and see how much money I'll save...
Rogers's starter package is $25. That doesn't include the rental of the HD receiver, which is $7.50. And I also pay some bullshit "Digital Services Fee" of $3, so I'm already at $35.50 before I've added TSN and Sportsnet.
Of course Rogers didn't lump all the sports stations together, that would be too easy. If you just want Sportsnet and TSN, you're out another $36. So my monthly Rogers bill for CBC, Sportsnet and TSN would be $71.50 plus tax.
That doesn't seem very skinny for three stations.
