Bell Media Shifts More Free CTV Content to Crave Subscription Tier

This shift by Bell Media underscores a hardening resolve among traditional broadcasters to monetize their content more aggressively through direct-to-consumer subscriptions. For the Canadian streaming market, it signals a further reduction in free, ad-supported options as platforms like Crave aim to capture more revenue per user. Industry players should watch for how this impacts Crave's subscriber numbers and average revenue per user (ARPU), as well as potential consumer pushback against increasing paywalls.

This move is part of Bell Media's larger strategy to enhance its Crave streaming service. In November 2025, Bell Media announced a significant expansion of Crave, adding over 10,000 hours of content, a 30% increase to its existing library (Bell Media press release, November 2025). This expansion included live programming from CTV and Noovo, select sports events, news, and an expanded kids' library. Some free, ad-supported content previously on CTV.ca and Noovo.ca was also integrated into Crave, accessible with a free Bell Media account (Media in Canada, November 2025). During its Q4 2025 earnings call in February 2026, Bell reported a 26% year-over-year increase in Crave subscriptions, reaching approximately 4.6 million, driven significantly by direct-to-consumer streaming growth (Nasdaq, February 2026; MobileSyrup, February 2026). The company also increased prices for its TSN+ streaming service and bundles that include Crave and Disney+ in April 2026, indicating a continued focus on maximizing subscription revenue (iPhone in Canada, April 2026). These moves collectively highlight Bell Media's commitment to consolidating its content offerings, improving user experience, and driving subscriber growth and revenue through its premium streaming platform.