Bell’s Crave grows to 2.3 million subscribers in Q4 2018

In its Q4 2018 earnings report, national carrier BCE reported a massive increase to 2.3 million Crave subscribers.

That’s exactly one million more subscribers than the over-the-top (OTT) streaming service reported in Q4 2017.

Of course, it’s important to remember that Crave was successful in getting those new subscribers when it announced that it would be offering current HBO content on its streaming service.

Canadians are now able to stream episodes of award-winning TV shows like Game of Thrones online without needing a cable subscription. The partnership helped Bell to finally untether an impressive library of licenced content.

Bell said its operating revenue for its media division grew 1.9 percent in the quarter to $850 million and that was “due to advertising revenue growth in entertainment and sports specialty TV, conventional TV, outdoor advertising and digital media.”

It noted in its results that “subscriber revenue was essentially flat compared to Q4 2017.”

Crave now is carried by all major Canadian broadcast TV distributors.

Bell’s CEO George Cope also welcomed news that its media division is partnering with Starz, the U.S.-based premium cable and satellite TV network.

It plans to replace the former TMN Encore and as part of the expanded Crave streaming service on March 1.

The following week, Starz will be available to all Canadians with access to the internet as an add-on to Crave for $5.99 per month. Customers will be able to access Starz through the Crave app on iOS and Android and Apple TV Generation 4.

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