Shaw hikes rates, triples profits

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Shaw hikes rates, triples profits

Postby kal » Fri Jul 15, 2016 12:05 pm

Rates up, profits up. Unless you are on that basic TV plan. I believe that stays legislated at $25/month, and no tax either on that plan.

It's unclear if the tripled profits are strictly driven by accounting for the merged business entities or if they represent net gains on a per subscriber basis.

Read more here:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/shaw-communications-results-corus-1.3680999?cmp=rss
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Re: Shaw hikes rates, triples profits

Postby kal » Sat Jul 16, 2016 12:53 pm

More on Shaw's situation:

-seems the company lost some 8000+ Internet subscribers in the quarter, not a good development
-lost about 27,000 TV subscribers
-lost 14,000 home phone subscribers
-gained almost 4000 satellite TV subscribers
-Wind (Shaw's recent acquisition) now has just over a million subscribers (ARPU of $36/month)

New development: launched WideOpen Internet 150: $50/month 1st y, $80/month second year, then $135/month thereafter. Supposedly this is a fibre-coax hybrid system.
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Re: Shaw hikes rates, triples profits

Postby skyvalleyradio » Sat Jul 16, 2016 4:09 pm

Blame all of this squarely on the useless CRTC - a taxpayer-supported bunch of appointees whose incestuous, collusion with the telecomm/broadcaster/cable corps results in Canadians getting the shaft. The CRTC blah-blah-blahs about protecting & standing up for the consumer but their actions demonstrate just the opposite. Certainly the telecomms deserve to make a profit & returns to investors. However, over-charging for their services is hardly justified with such obscene profits. Yet the CRTC just keeps on rubber-stamping those rate increases for anything to do with communications or media. Maybe if all of us Canadians collectively got off our asses & filed interventions/complaints with the CRTC every time a rate increase occurs to our phones/TV/Internet we might get somewhere. I know I do. I'm not talkng a few hundred complaints but literally thousands bombarding the commission each & every time an application occurs, they may start to listen. I know, whimsical wishful thinking on my part! We're being gouged for these services because it's legal, permitted & approved by the do-nothing CRTC. We just got our rate increase notice from Shaw so I'll put my complaint to the CRTC together next week in anticipation of receiving their Word-template reply to me with assurances they'll make note of it. Uh-huh...
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Re: Shaw hikes rates, triples profits

Postby xwdcatvb » Sat Jul 16, 2016 9:07 pm

skyvalleyradio wrote:Blame all of this squarely on the useless CRTC - a taxpayer-supported bunch of appointees whose incestuous, collusion with the telecomm/broadcaster/cable corps results in Canadians getting the shaft. <snipped a huge pile> Yet the CRTC just keeps on rubber-stamping those rate increases for anything to do with communications or media.


What rate increases? Basic TV was set lower a few months back -- basic telephone is still the same, at least my landline in Burnaby is -- if you want gravy, be prepared to pay for drippings and corn starch.

Internet is not regulated.
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Re: Shaw hikes rates, triples profits

Postby kal » Sat Jul 16, 2016 9:59 pm

Re: rate increases.

All Shaw services with the exception of one will see increases. The only one to remain fixed is the so-called "skinny" TV which is set at a CRTC-mandated $25/month. Presumably if Shaw does attempt to increase the price of this service then a CRTC hearing will ensue.

A personal observation if I may: the $25 service from Shaw is very good, as, unlike its Telus equivalent, it includes the 4+1 American channels (the four broadcast networks, plus PBS). If you want to add on CNN and BBC then that will add on $6. Once over $30 Shaw adds on another six or so channels without any fanfare. So far the only thing I miss, well a few things actually; the occasional WWE show, and the news services CTV Newsnet, BC1 and CBC Newsworld.

And Shaw's customer service is very good, both online, over the phone, and in-house.
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Re: Shaw hikes rates, triples profits

Postby tuned » Sat Jul 16, 2016 10:26 pm

The CRTC is public relations theater. It does the bidding of the big corporations and throws consumers the odd bone to make it look like they are looking out for the little guy. Canadians are getting screwed but obviously not enough to really do anything about it.
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Re: Shaw hikes rates, triples profits

Postby kal » Sun Jul 17, 2016 7:56 am

I suggest readers here look more closely at recent CRTC actions. This agency is quite a bit different today than it was just a few years ago. Who would have imagined a CRTC decision to mandate skinny TV even just a year or so ago? Let's see what comes of major fall hearings by the CRTC. Watch for an end to data caps, or at least much more relaxed caps, both on mobile and on home Internet feeds.

Consider adding your name to the OpenMedia letter calling on the CRTC to end data caps.

https://act.openmedia.org/datacaps
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Re: Shaw hikes rates, triples profits

Postby xwdcatvb » Sun Jul 17, 2016 7:01 pm

kal wrote:Re: rate increases.

All Shaw services with the exception of one will see increases. The only one to remain fixed is the so-called "skinny" TV which is set at a CRTC-mandated $25/month. Presumably if Shaw does attempt to increase the price of this service then a CRTC hearing will ensue.

A personal observation if I may: the $25 service from Shaw is very good, as, unlike its Telus equivalent, it includes the 4+1 American channels (the four broadcast networks, plus PBS).


Since when was PBS not a 'broadcast network'?
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Re: Shaw hikes rates, triples profits

Postby kal » Sun Jul 17, 2016 7:37 pm

That's the CRTC nomenclature. I think the labeling may come from the fact that for most Canadians PBS was only accessible over cable. Perhaps someone can weigh in on this.
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Re: Shaw hikes rates, triples profits

Postby kal » Mon Jul 18, 2016 9:18 am

Re: the new Wideopen 150 Mbps plan...

seems there is some fine print ... $50/month rate not for existing customers. They have to fork over $80/month for the first year. So, an extra $360 over two years. And, there is some sort of minimum TV plan requirement. I'm not clear on that one for now so I'll just throw out a figure of an extra $20/month for those who have the "skinny" $25 plan. So that would be another $240 a year, or $480 over two years for a total of $840 more over two years for existing customers.

Hmm, that's wideopen indeed.
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Re: Shaw hikes rates, triples profits

Postby xwdcatvb » Mon Jul 18, 2016 6:50 pm

kal wrote:That's the CRTC nomenclature. I think the labeling may come from the fact that for most Canadians PBS was only accessible over cable. Perhaps someone can weigh in on this.


Well, us folks (pleeze criticise my English...) in Greater Vancouver, have no more 'access' off-air to ABC, CBS, CW, Fox, or NBC than to PBS... so that point is?

One might argue that a host of programming on the Excited States' commercial networks is purchased for broadcast by our outlets anyway, but BC's KNOWledge Network does similar to pick up all the The Royal British stuff that populates PBS.

The other question arises: why are 'we' so hung up on insisting we have to feed another country's broadcast outlets directly into our homes?
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Re: Shaw hikes rates, triples profits

Postby kal » Mon Jul 18, 2016 10:15 pm

Here's one gov't document on the basic TV requirements:

http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=1037049

and here's the official CRTC bulletin that spells out what the BDUs had do to comply with the offering of basic TV.

http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2016/2016-59.htm

(note the 4+1 reference)

Expect another bulletin within a few months spelling out the requirements for a la carte pricing, coming into effect December 1 2016.
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Re: Shaw hikes rates, triples profits

Postby tuned » Mon Jul 18, 2016 11:37 pm

The CRTC is a toothless tiger. Even when the CRTC appears to try to get tough with broadcasters they just whine to politicians who bring the CRTC to heel. Telus has decided to give them the equivalent of the finger by making the "skinny" bundle worthless by not including US channels but then again the CRTC said that they "may" add them. I predict the same game playing with the alleged "pick and pay". The idea that the CRTC is going to make these huge companies treat Canadians fairly is a fantasy. It's never happened in the past and it's not going to happen now.
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Re: Shaw hikes rates, triples profits

Postby Doug » Thu Aug 18, 2016 5:46 pm

kal wrote:More on Shaw's situation:

-seems the company lost some 8000+ Internet subscribers in the quarter, not a good development
-lost about 27,000 TV subscribers
-lost 14,000 home phone subscribers
-gained almost 4000 satellite TV subscribers
-Wind (Shaw's recent acquisition) now has just over a million subscribers (ARPU of $36/month)

New development: launched WideOpen Internet 150: $50/month 1st y, $80/month second year, then $135/month thereafter. Supposedly this is a fibre-coax hybrid system.


Agreed - they've reached "peak subscriber" and are, like the population of Japan, in decline. I wouldn't touch Shaw as an investor with a 10' pole. (Not that'd I'd probably touch Corus either, though their Radio and Broadcast TV assets are attractive, the specialty TV nets aren't). It's only going to accelerate as Telus and Bell aggressively roll out fibre-to-the-home networks and IPTV. I can't see how Shaw will be able to compete on speed with their coaxial cable system. And, Bell and Telus fibre are cheaper than Shaw. Shaw reminds me of the tobacco companies - limited in their subscriber growth (or now non-existent growth and, in fact, decline) - so they raise revenues by in increasing prices. And, Wind still isn't available outside the major cities. They need to...umm...build several thousand cell towers across the country, don't ya think!? ;)

Rogers is a bit better because of their Wireless division, which is huge, and their Fido and/or co-branded MVNO partners seem to be growing.

Cheers,
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Re: Shaw hikes rates, triples profits

Postby kal » Fri Aug 19, 2016 4:17 pm

Don't discount Shaw. Their WideOpen Internet 150 plan looks to be quite popular, especially at generating churn (turnover from other companies). The $50/month newcomer rate ($80 in second year) appears to be generating a lot of interest. Telus for the most part doesn't have the infrastructure to go over 120 Mbps, even with fibre to the home. The share price for Shaw (SRJ.B) is up about 8% over the past three months (however, it is unchanged over a year).
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