Canadian video-on-demand service
Crave (originally CraveTV) is a Canadian subscription video on demand service owned by Bell Media. The service competes directly with other subscription-based over-the-top streaming services operating in Canada, primarily against American-based services.
The service features Bell Media original programming, other premium international programming, and various theatrically-released films. As of November 2024[ [update]], Crave's major programming suppliers are Warner Bros. Discovery (HBO / Max programming and Warner Bros. films), and Sony Pictures (theatrical films from labels including Columbia). Starz, offered in partnership with Lionsgate, is available as an add-on.
Launched in December 2014 as the low-cost streaming service CraveTV, by late 2018 the service had pivoted to focus on premium content, integrating its operations with The Movie Network (which became the Crave pay TV network), and later its French-language counterpart Super Écran. Crave is available either as an over-the-top subscription service, or through participating Canadian television service providers.
Service structure.
The Crave video-on-demand service is registered with the CRTC as a licence-exempt "hybrid" VOD service, allowing its programming to be offered on-demand through cable/IPTV service providers, without an accompanying linear channel, provided that it is also available via the Internet on a direct-to-consumer basis. Regardless of subscription method, programming is available for streaming through Crave's website, mobile apps, video game consoles, smart TVs and other devices; when subscribed to through a TV provider, some or all programming may be also available through that provider's set-top boxes.
Bell's Crave (formerly TMN), Starz (formerly Encore), and Super Écran linear TV channels are offered under separate licences, however upon its relaunch in November 2018, the direct-to-consumer Crave service launched add-on tiers which includes access to the programming and linear streams of the Crave linear service, and eventually Starz and Super Écran. At the same time, subscribers to the former TMN linear service began to receive access to the former CraveTV VOD library at no additional charge, when signed into the Crave streaming platform via TV Everywhere.
On October 26, 2021, all programming previously included in the Movies + HBO and Super Écran add-ons, and access to the Crave and Super Écran linear channels, was moved into the main library, effectively eliminating the former entry-level programming tier. Direct-to-consumer packages are now divided into "Crave Mobile" and "Crave Total" plans; Crave Mobile, which has the same price as the previous entry-level tier, provides access to up to 720p quality video on a single mobile or browser-based device at a time, while Crave Total, which has approximately the same price as the previous Crave + Movies + HBO (and is marketed as simply "Crave" on most TV service providers), offers up to four simultaneous streams of video at up to 4K resolution (depending on program availability) through a maximum of five registered devices. This makes Crave's offerings comparable to the plans offered by HBO Max in Latin America, and more closely comparable to Netflix's package options in Canada and elsewhere. Customers that subscribed to Crave's previous entry-level package directly through the service's website will be offered Crave Total on a trial basis until March 2022.
Starz programming remains available on Crave solely through a separate paid add-on. Additionally, both Starz and Super Écran continue to be available individually through TV service providers. Such subscribers can access programming for their subscribed services through the Crave platform using TV Everywhere authentication, however in these cases they do not receive access to other Crave programming.
2018–21 packaging.
From November 1, 2018, to October 25, 2021, programming on the Crave streaming platform was divided between up to four packages:
History and distribution.
At some point following the launch of Netflix in Canada in 2010, several domestic media companies including the media divisions of Bell, Rogers, and Shaw, as well as cinema operator Cineplex, were reportedly in talks to launch a joint-venture Canadian streaming service. However, these talks broke down, and the companies ultimately launched separate initiatives, with Cineplex focusing on its Cineplex Store transactional video-on-demand platform, which launched in 2012, and Rogers and Shaw announcing a jointly-owned streaming service named Shomi in 2014.
Shortly after the announcement of Shomi, on October 30, 2014, Bell Media revealed its own streaming and video-on-demand service focused on TV series programming, initially referring to it by the code name "Project Latte". The final name of CraveTV was revealed a few days before launch that December, as was its monthly price of $4 per month – half the monthly Canadian price of Netflix at the time, or roughly the retail price of a latte (hence the code name).
However, unlike Netflix which was sold directly to consumers via the Internet, CraveTV was only made available on launch as an add-on for subscribers of television service providers owned by Bell Canada (including Bell Satellite TV, Bell Fibe TV, and Bell Aliant), along with Eastlink and Telus. In February 2015, Access Communications, Cable Cable, Nexicom, and the cable TV division of Bell subsidiary Northwestel were added, giving the service wider availability in Saskatchewan and Northern Canada.
At the time of launch Bell did not indicate any plans to make CraveTV available on a standalone over-the-top basis, instead stating that CraveTV would "enhance the value of the subscription television ecosystem" and would be "available to every TV provider in Canada". Kevin Crull, president of Bell Media at the time, contended that television content on any streaming service "[would not] exist if you didn't have the traditional TV system. So you really can't sustainably have one without the other." Further, he stated that the service would not "cannibalize" Bell's investment in traditional linear television services. Tying the service to a television service also counters the trend of "cord cutting", in which one drops cable or satellite television in favor of exclusively obtaining television programming over-the-air and through SVOD services.
On July 13, 2015, Bell announced that CraveTV would transition to an over-the-top service available to all users, regardless of provider, in January 2016. That month, the service when sold through TV providers increased in price from $4 to $6 per-month. On January 14, 2016, CraveTV was launched as an over-the-top service, costing $7.99 per-month. Prices were raised again in May 2018, with the direct-to-consumer price increasing to $9.99.
Merger with Bell Media pay services.
In October 2018, a Rogers Cable service bulletin stated that beginning in November, subscribers to The Movie Network would begin to receive CraveTV as part of their service.
On November 1, 2018, Bell announced that CraveTV had merged with The Movie Network, with both services being renamed Crave (and the combined services promoted as "The All-New Crave"). Under the service's new structure, TMN linear subscribers additionally receive access to CraveTV's library as part of their service, and Crave's OTT service added a $19.98 "Crave + Movies + HBO" tier that adds access to TMN's film library and programming, including first-run HBO programming. The existing CraveTV service without films or current HBO programming remains available, at its existing $9.99 direct-to-consumer price. Distribution of the basic Crave service through service providers (in some cases at a lower price) also continues, now including additional providers such as Rogers Cable. Bell Media head Randy Lennox cited increasing competition with Netflix as a basis for the decision. The following spring, a Canadian version of Starz (newly renamed from TMN Encore) was launched on the platform as a further add-on, with a direct-to-consumer monthly price of $5.99.
On January 21, 2020, Bell announced that Crave would expand into the French-language market on January 28 of that year. The service promoted that it would add roughly 5,000 hours of content in French to the service for all subscribers (including the new original series "Pour toujours, plus un jour"), and add a French-language premium tier in conjunction with Bell's Super Écran network. Existing Super Écran subscribers are being directed to the Crave apps for future TV Everywhere access to its content, replacing the existing Super Écran Go apps.
On October 26, 2021, Bell Media announced that the previous entry-level programming package was being eliminated; all Crave subscribers would henceforth have access to the same library of programming (apart from Starz), with a new single-stream "Crave Mobile" plan offered at the $9.99 price point in place of the previous basic tier.
Device support and technical features.
The Crave streaming platform supports access through most modern Web browsers, as well as apps for iOS/iPadOS, Android and Android TV devices, Apple TV, Samsung Smart TVs produced since 2014, Xbox One/Series X/Series S, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Roku, and PlayStation 4/5 (since 2020). Crave's website does not support access on Linux or ChromeOS operating systems, nor in the Opera browser. However, videos can play on ChromeOS.
TV service providers that offer Crave can also offer streaming access to its library to their subscribers through the provider's own platforms; some of these platforms may support additional devices. For example, VMedia offers a Roku app which includes access to Crave programming for those subscribing through that provider, which was available before Crave's own Roku app was released.
Beginning in August 2021, select content, including recent Warner Bros. films, began to be offered in 4K resolution on compatible devices including Apple TV 4K, Android TV, Fire TV, and Chromecast. Select devices also support 5.1 surround sound, however, it has been plagued with issues and has not functioned properly since release. Support for AirPods spatial audio was added to the iOS app in March 2022.
Accessibility.
Crave's website and apps support closed captioning. Although much of Crave's programming on its linear channels since fall 2019 has included described video (DV) when accessed through a TV provider set-top box under CRTC rules, support for DV in streaming video was not added until March 2022, when it began to be supported on Apple devices.
Content agreements.
As CraveTV, the service was oriented primarily towards television series, carrying over 10,000 hours of programming on-launch; Bell expected the library to double within a year of the service's launch. Among the programs that were exclusive to CraveTV at launch were programs broadcast by other Bell properties (such as "The Big Bang Theory", "Doctor Who", and "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.") and Comedy Central original series. Some series have moved off the service or become co-exclusives with other services over time; for example, "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." also became available on Disney+ after its launch, before later moving off Crave entirely. Other notable series that were exclusively available on CraveTV in its early years but have since had their rights acquired by other services include "Seinfeld" (moved to Netflix globally in 2021) and "South Park" (moved to Paramount+ in Canada in early 2022 as part of a longer-term global move).
In October 2014, shortly before launch, Bell announced a deal with HBO to bring the U.S. service's "off-air" programming (i.e. series no longer in production), such as "The Sopranos", "Sex and the City", "The Wire", "Crashbox", and various older HBO-produced television films, documentaries, and stand-up comedy specials, to CraveTV. At the time of launch, current HBO programming remained exclusive to HBO Canada, a multiplex channel of The Movie Network; it was added to Crave's premium tier in 2018, and became available in all Crave tiers in 2022.
On January 29, 2015, Bell announced a similar licensing deal with Showtime, which would see most of its off-air library added to CraveTV as well.
In March 2015, CraveTV announced the acquisition and production of "Letterkenny", the service's first original series.
In February 2016, Bell Media announced that it had acquired exclusive rights to the current incarnation of "Doctor Who", with CraveTV adding series 9 later that year, series 1 through 8 by the end of the year, and completed series added to the service following the conclusion of their first-run airings on Space (now CTV Sci-Fi Channel). In July 2016, Bell Media announced that it had acquired rights to current and past "Star Trek" television series for CraveTV and its cable networks (such as Space), including the then-upcoming '. Bell subsequently announced similar deals for subsequent "Star Trek" series, including ', ', and ', despite CBS All Access (now Paramount+), which streams all of the newer "Star Trek" series in the United States, having launched in Canada.
On October 24, 2016, Bell announced that new and returning Showtime programming would become available on CraveTV day-and-date with their U.S. premiere, beginning with the third-season premiere of "The Affair". Previously, they were only added after their seasons concluded on The Movie Network.
In June 2017, Bell reached a deal to sell Comedy Gold to Wow Unlimited