[Mike F]

Story.

The option to pick and pay for only the channels that a viewer wants to watch moved closer to becoming a reality for millions of TV subscribers on Friday.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission decided Friday to adopt a proposal from Bell to allow its channels to be unbundled while rates for individual networks will fluctuate based on the number of subscribers who sign up.

With Bell shifting away from “tied selling” other major channel owners like Shaw Media and Rogers Media are likely to follow suit. “It wont just be us, if you’re a cable provider, you really need all of your suppliers to participate,” Mr. Crull said.