Canadians will no longer have to have a cable subscription to stream HBO.
Bell Media is rebranding and combining The Movie Network (TMN), HBO Canada and CraveTV into one streaming service, that will simply be known as Crave.
The new Crave is available now through television service providers and will be available direct to consumers starting Monday, Nov. 5 at Crave.ca, iOS, and Android. The service will become available on additional platforms in the coming weeks, including the ability to subscribe directly via the Crave app on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TVs, and Amazon Fire TV.
Home to SHOWTIME and VICE programming, as well as a collection of TV series, movies and kids’ content from WOW! Unlimited Media, Bell is making the service available in two subscription tiers: Crave ($9.99/month plus applicable taxes) and Crave + Movies + HBO ($19.98/month plus tax).
“As HBO continues to create ground-breaking content, movies are bringing in record-breaking Pay TV audiences, and family-friendly titles continue to be some of the most popular On Demand and SVOD selections,” said Tracey Pearce, president, Distribution and Pay, Bell Media. “This is the content Canadians crave, and we’re delivering it on whatever platform they want.”
If you’re a cable customer, you’ll notice that the former TMN Pay TV linear channels are now rebranded as Crave 1, Crave 2, Crave 3, Crave 4, HBO Canada 1, and HBO Canada 2. TMN Encore Pay TV channels are now Encore 1 and Encore 2. As was previously announced, Starz and Bell Media have entered into an exclusive, long-term alliance to bring Starz to Canada, with TMN Encore rebranding in 2019.
Former TMN subscribers now have access to thousands of hours of additional content through Crave.ca and the Crave app that was previously exclusive to CraveTV, including shows like Letterkenny, The Handmaid’s Tale, Killing Eve, Star Trek: Discovery and Castle Rock.
Bell will also decommission TMN GO. Users will now access on-demand content through the new Crave app, or by logging into Crave.ca with credentials from their television service provider.
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