What makes more sense, paying two separate bills for Internet and TV package subscriptions or paying just the Internet bill and eliminating the cable bill altogether? Cutting the cord in this way is becoming much more popular across Canada, as tech-savvy individuals discover that they can greatly lower their monthly expenses while experiencing new perks like commercial-less programs, a wider variety of shows and films at their disposal and the ability to pause, rewind and fast forward as needed.

As more legitimate services like Netflix, iTunes and channel-sponsored streaming sites emerge, many Canadians are picking these mediums over television packages. For instance, Boon Dog Professional Services revealed that between November 2012 and March 2013, almost 5,400 Canadian consumers canceled their subscriptions with their TV providers. This is actually a relatively low number, compared to the more than 8,100 who took the same action between August 2012 and December 2012.

The fact is that despite the fact that there are legitimate and legal ways to watch TV shows and movies online, there are a number of people who choose to take illegal actions, like acquiring videos from some peer-to-peer and torrent programs, which might not be allowed.

However, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings recently announced that he has insider information indicating that piracy has fallen by half in Canada over the past three years.

CEO touts Netflix as having moral sway
According to Maclean's, in an interview with Dutch website Tweakers, Hastings said that since Netflix came to Canada three years ago, bittorrent traffic fell by 50 per cent. That being said, he did not give the Dutch company the source he got this statistic from, but Netflix representatives indicated to Maclean's that Sandvine may have found similar metrics.

Regardless of the exact figures, the news provider reported that studies have indicated that programs and services like Netflix have reduced the illegal pirating of films and shows overall.

Netflix leads in cord cutting
In late February 2013, Media Technology Monitor (MTM) revealed that Netflix does, in fact, have a large part of the market when it comes to watching TV online in Canada. The report noted that the average Canadian user streams approximately an hour of content each day from the website and an additional 30 minutes from other Internet-based programs. Moreover, it found that Canadians are relatively likely to buy into another online streaming service when they already pay for Netflix. After all, there's a lot of variety on the Internet and the packages are fairly cheap.

The MTM study also noted that at this point, Canadians watch as much TV online as they do on traditional TV sets - an hour and a half every day.

How do viewers make this a possibility?
Since so many Canadians are watching their favourite TV shows and movies online, many likely know how to get the biggest bang for their buck. Because they're buying into these services online, they should make the most of them with a good Internet connection. They should work with a worthwhile Internet service provider. For instance, indie ISPs not only provide a great service at competitive prices, but they also have fantastic customer service representatives.