Who wants to pay more for basic cable?
Yes, Telus has been charging a 1.5% fee whenever their customers use a credit card since mid-October and now Bell Canada, Cogeco, Eastlink and Sasktel applied to start upping their rates every year “based on the annual consumer price index for the period ending December 31 of the preceding calendar year”, which means everyone will likely be paying way more for something that gets less and less appealing every year.
I currently stream most of the television programs I watch on a Roku television or watch over the air broadcast using a digital antenna and LTE/5G filter so I question the logic of hiking basic cable when most people are cutting the cord and starting to watch the Canadian networks online.
Some of them still charge fees for some of their programming but when it comes to news and weather, these are available free from CBC, Radio Canada, Global, CTV and The Weather Network via their apps, which are available for mobile devices and on smart televisions. And I suspect they will eventually offer advertisement sponsored streaming and time shifting, like CBC and Radio Canada have.
When it comes to comedy and drama that also airs on television, I now find myself watching them on Youtube, Prime Video and Disney+, basically viewing cable as a bonus in a discounted package with cell service, where I occasionally record programs that are unavailable online.
I also binge watch series on Netflix and Prime Video, the latter making Global and multiple other networks available for relatively affordable rates, so I believe these hikes are not conducive to the retaining of subscribers.
Bell just recently upgraded their fibre network, allowing some to download and upload at speeds up to 3 GBPS. And these occurred in multiple cities where over the air broadcasts are strong and readily available to most residents of these cities, so what could stop an independent provider from offering basic cable packages at less than $20.
I suspect most subscribers would be happy paying less for 1080p broadcasts, which is what one finds over the air, and prefer tuning into 4k primarily for films and sports. And Netflix is also still loosing subscribers so I think this hike is not fully thought out.
Is Bell trying to nudge people towards Crave, a streaming service that has just recently dropped prices to attract more subscribers? Who knows. But you have until October 28th, 2022 to comment on the proposal to hike basic cables rates from $25 to $28 “with subsequent yearly adjustments based on inflation“.
British Pound More Affordable
You may want to consider ordering goods from Great Britain as soon as possible because the British Pound is near parity with the American Dollar and consequently more affordable to Canadians, as you can see from the current exchange rate shown in this graphic:
Alibris U.K, Amazon.co.uk, HMV.com and Musicroom.com are the U.K companies I import from the most and I tend to order CDs, sheet music and film on DVD/Blu-ray from them, the latter being playable only on multi region players, which can be purchased from Amazon Canada and Amazon America.
You should note that some DVD and blu-ray players can play Region 0 discs, some in PAL so consult your player’s manual for details.
Don’t Forget
The Disney Day offer for a month’s subscription to Disney+ for $1.99 will end on September 19th, 2022. And if you choose to subscribe, you can get money back through Rakuten, where you’ll also find offers for ShopDisney.com.
Amazon Drive To Be Discontinued
Amazon has decided to end offering their drive service on December 31st, 2022. But will continue hosting photos and videos:
- Canadians: click here for details
- Americans: click here for details
A very quiet month but…
As you can see there wasn’t much to talk about this month.
The concerts and record conventions are back on, so it should pick up in fall:
- The Bowmanville CD and Record Show is scheduled for Sunday, September 11th at the Bowmanville Memorial Park Club House from 10am-4pm with free admission whilst the Newmarket Record Show will be occurring an hour or so drive away on the same day at the Royal Canadian Legion from 10am-3pm. (Road trip?)
- There will be a Giant Record & CD Garage Sale at 90 Vanzant Court in Whitchurch-Stouffville from 10am to 4 pm on Saturday, September 17th. This appears to be a private residence so parking could be limited.
- The Guelph Record Show will be happening the following Sunday, September 18th at the Royal Canadian Legion from 10:30am-4pm and tickets are $20 for early access and $5 for general admission.
- The Montreal Record Show will occur the Sunday after that, on the 24th of September at Eglise Catholique Saint-Denis from 10am to 4pm, with free admission. This church if located next to the North entrance of the Laurier Metro station, I believe facing the entrance itself.
- The Toronto Downtown Record Show will be at 958 Broadview Ave, East York from 10am to Noon ($25/early admission) and Noon to 3pm ($5/general admission) on Sunday, September 25th. Parking will be limited but the event is less than a three minute bus ride from the Broadview TTC Metro Station to the corner of Broadview and Chester Hill Rd (Stop ID: 651), or ten minute walk from said station.
- The Hamilton Record Show is also happening on Sunday, the 25th of September from 10:30am to 4pm at Bridgeworks, which is an hour’s drive away from the Toronto event. The venue is also a ten minute walk from the West Harbour GO station or 6 minute walk from Bus Stop 2977 at the corner of Cannon and Hess. And he admission fees for this convention is $20 for early admission and $5 for general admission.
- The first convention of October will occur on the Sunday, the 2nd in Windsor at the Royal Canadian Legion on Wyandotte St E at 10am to 4pm. Admission will be $3 and the venue from this event is near bus stop numbers 1303 and 1304.
- Another Bowmanville CD and Record Show is scheduled for Sunday, October 16th at the Bowmanville Memorial Park Club House from 10am-4pm with free admission whilst the Barrie Vinyl Record & Collectibles Show will be happening an hour and a half drive away on the same day at the Allandale Recreation Center from 10am-3pm with $4 admission. (Road trip?)
- The London Record Show will be occurring the following Sunday, October 23rd at Centennial Hall from 11am to 5pm, with a $5 admission fee. Parking is available onsite for a fee and the nearest bus stops are less than a three minute walk away at London City Hall (bus stop numbers 535 and 1936).
- The Calgary Music Collectors Show, will be on at the Acadia Recreation Centre Curling Hall on Sunday, October 23rd from 9:30am-11am ($10/early admission) and 11am-4pm ($5/general admission). The bus stop numbers closest to the venue are 6414 and 6447.
- The Oshawa CD/Record Show end the scheduled shows for October at the Royal Canadian Legion from 10am to 4pm on Sunday, the 30th. Admission will be $3, with parking on-site, and the nearest bus stops are numbers 665 and 670.
- The St. Catharines Record Show originally scheduled for the 8th of November was unfortunately cancelled so the first record convention of that month in Ontario will be the Burlington Record Show at the Burlington Senior Center in Central Park, from 10:30am to 4pm on Sunday, the 13th. Admission will be $3 and the nearest bus stop number are 38, 40, 216 and 815, the latter being the closest. And this event occurs on the same day of November’s Bowmanville CD and Record Show at the Bowmanville Memorial Park Club House, which is of course free, open from 10am to 4pm and only a hour and a half drive away from the previously mentioned event. (Road trip?)
- Also the 13th of November, the Record Fair will be hosted at the St.John’s Farmer Market in St.John’s, Newfoundland from 10am to 4 pm. And the nearest bus stop to the venue is #245.
- The December 11th Bowmanville CD and Record Show is apparently the last show of the Fall season and year, at the same times and venue as the previous shows. But this may change at any time so I encourage you to to visit Vibrations.ca for updated record convention information. And please be aware that masks and social distancing may be encouraged at these events, as well as the use of cash for purchases.
I will try to update this page. But if you know of any other event, please post it on my Facebook group. Thank you.
Multiple Offers
If you are planning to subscribe to Apple Music and/or Disney+ and/or NordVPN, you should know that Rakuten Canada is offering more cash back for these services than usual; Up to $4 back on Apple Music, $25 back on Disney+ and up to 40% back on NordVPN until July 31st, 2022.
I suspect these higher rates for Disney+ and NordVPN are on new full year subscriptions but I could be wrong. And I know you can get up to 60% back on a two year subscriptions plus threat protect on a two year subscription with NordVPN.
There are also a bunch of bonus Back To School offers you might want to look into at Rakuten Canada.