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Each à la carte channel is priced at a minimum of $3 a month and as much as $18 a month for premium bundles. Then there’s the cost of renting the cable box receiver, which is priced anywhere from $5 to $15 a month, depending on the provider and whether the customer opts for high definition. Next there’s the installation fee. Plus tax. By the time the final bill is tallied, $25 looks like an adorable CRTC-conceived daydream.

For most people who already subscribe to Internet or mobile phone services, and therefore have the option of bundling services for added discounts, these new cable packages offer little, if any, advantage in terms of savings. For those who are not already customers, yet still reserve hope for a truly affordable cable package, well, best of luck to them if they plan to subscribe to multiple sports channels and expect to keep their monthly cost significantly below $100. Indeed, the “skinny” on these skinny packages is essentially that no one will want them — and that, paradoxically, is exactly what the cable providers want.

It’s difficult to fault commercial enterprises for behaving like commercial enterprises: the CRTC gave cable-TV providers defined instructions, and the companies are working within and around them to ensure they can still turn healthy profits while obeying the rules. They were unlikely to see much gain by offering comprehensive $25 cable packages, so they made “skinny basic” cable as undesirable as possible. It’s remarkable that CRTC bureaucrats couldn’t see that coming.