The 5 Best TV Service Providers in British Columbia

Cable TV is one of the older methods of watching TV. Transmitted via cable directly to homes, it was introduced in some areas as early as the 1950s and it still has its place in the market today. From 1983, cable began to offer cable-only channels which greatly increased its appeal. Competitors in the form of Satellite TV did not really start to compete with Cable’s capabilities until the 1990s. Cable offered a much more reliable service that the analogue services at the time of its launch. At present, cable TV is provided to most Canadian towns through services such Shaw, Rogers, Vidéotron, Cable Axion, Cogeco and EastLink.

In Canada, there are two Satellite TV services: Shaw Direct and Bell TV. Satellite TV is also known as DBS or Direct Broadcast Satellite. It relays a signal to the user’s TV via a satellite receiver outside their home, transmitted directly from a satellite orbiting the earth. Many Canadians attempt to subscribe to American Satellite services, something that is not permitted by the CRTC. This black market continues to cause trouble to the Canadian satellite services.

In the 90’s, another service began to creep into the TV markets as another option instead of cable TV. IP TV is Internet Provided Television, and as you may have deduced, it is TV delivered to your home via the internet through your phone line cables. It offers a similar package to the cable services. Many homes in the west of the country have adopted this method of TV viewing.

Smart TVs are a relatively recent addition to the TV market. But how do they differ to IPTV? Essentially, they do the same job except IPTV usually has a set-top box and therefore Smart TVs are usually simpler and neater, without additional hardware. However, if you used IPTV, then your TV would potentially be able to evolve with the box and thus stand the test of time. Usually, Smart TVs have everything built in which greatly limits their possibilities when the availability of new services appears and they may not always be compatible. If using IPTV, you are not restricted by the TV’s limitations in the future.

Roku has recently launched in Canada and is a streaming channel which allows its users to access free TV shows and movies on their own platform. It is completely free as it is supported by advertising. The Roku Streaming Stick has access to over half a thousand channels and even works with the free app on smart devices. The stick can also act as a remote and can play your personal music or photos directly on the TV. There are even options for voice search too.

In Canada, there are also many TV set-top boxes that offer subscriptions and plans. Ebox is one such box. With Ebox or VBox services, you can watch live TV as well as accessing Android TV features. The Ebox also comes with a voice-operated remote control.

If you are debating with which box you should get then many people wonder whether to opt for an Android box or Apple TV. The first thing to consider is whether you use an iPhone or an Android phone – the decision should therefore be simple! But what if your household has a mix of devices? Or you are not necessarily strictly loyal to your chosen brand?

Android TV can be built into the TV itself or you can get a set-top box. Android is more of a TV platform as it is available on a vast array of devices made by different companies. Apple TV is a platform too but it’s all in one Apple device. Android has an amazing selection of apps and content that blows Apple’s out of the water somewhat. However, Apple integrates its devices so well that switching from one to the other and linking them together is seamless.

When choosing between packages such as Android or Apple, you also need to factor in the storage. You will not ever regret getting larger amounts, that’s for sure!