Netflix video-on-demand to launch in Canada

[nonlinear]

does anyone know when this will start?

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/07/19/netflix-video-on-demand-rogers.html


U.S. online video giant Netflix, Inc., is launching a subscription service in Canada to stream movies and TV episodes over the internet to customers' TVs and computers.

Canadian customers will pay a monthly fee to get unlimited video-on-demand starting this fall, Netflix announced Monday. The Los Gatos, Calif.-based company did not specify what that fee will be, but it currently charges $8.99 a month in the U.S.

Initially, the Canadian service will be available in English only, but the company plans to add French language capability "over time."

Unlike Netflix's U.S. service, which allows subscribers to receive DVDs by mail, the Canadian service will be streaming only.

This will be the first time Netflix has offered its services outside the U.S., where it has 13 million members.

Similar internet online programming services are being rolled out by several Canadian companies, particularly Quebecor's Videotron and Rogers Communications.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/07/19/netflix-video-on-demand-rogers.html#ixzz0u9DRSYQl

[e31]

If we get the same thing for $8.99 that would be fantastic. It sure beats PPV since you would only have to watch two movies to break even.

Like some of the comments on the CBC page, we won't get the same service that the US is accustomed to. It will be some bastardized service where only crappy Canadian content will be allowed, or you have to watch at least two Cdn films before you may watch a decent new release.

[adam c]

I would like to know how they will stream it
Box provided?
Or will people need to go out and buy a xbox360 or Wii?

[ByTeMe]

They will probably charge like $15-$20 a month or more. Hurray for Canada????

[Xtrema]

$8.99/month would be awesome but I agree with the $10-$15 guess. But quality and HD title library gotta improve before I'll jump in. The fact that most connection is still between 10-15Mbps isn't good for quality HD.

[Weapon_R]

Netflix is awesome. Worth every penny if its under $12 for streaming service

[sexualbanana]

Originally posted by adam c
I would like to know how they will stream it
Box provided?
Or will people need to go out and buy a xbox360 or Wii?

:werd: Had the same questions

[nonlinear]

i'm sure it will be streamed in the exact same way it's streamed in US: computer, Wii, or XBOX

[know1edge]

you guys know ps3 can stream it too right?

[mushi_mushi]

Wow thats a major step in the right direction. Canada is getting the shaft when it comes to accessing media across the board, no hulu, no pandora etc. I think that these sort of services are the future of watching tv/listening to music. I think live tv will always exist but people want to be able to watch whatever they want whenever they want. Thats part of the reason im going to build a media server, right now I watch most my stuff on the computer so why not archive it after your done watching it. I dont feel like going to the video store and looking at their limited selection and then deal with late fees. If they charged under 15 for their service that would be a good way to penetrate the market.

You can use a bunch of existing devices to deliver the netflix service, bunch of bluray players come with it as does the xbox 360/ps2. They also sell roku boxes on amazon for this purpose, I recall reading some of the reviews and they have been very popular. Also a bunch of media streamers do netflix as well. Dlink is coming out with the boxee box in november, I think it does netflix too. Ill wait for the initial reviews of the service in canada, but this looks very promising, I didnt even know they had any intention of opening their service to the canadian market until I saw this post.

[Cos]

Anyone know what sort of content it has and how fast? Say Entourage/Top Gear/Etc.

[mr2mike]

I would pay a few dollars more so I DIDN'T have to watch Canadian content movies.

Under $14/month is well worth it. Cheaper the better.

[Phenix]

Just wish we had access to HULU here

[nonlinear]

Originally posted by Phenix
Just wish we had access to HULU here

have you tried http://anchorfree.com/downloads/hotspot-shield/

download and install, then connect to hulu.com

[WhippWhapp]

I'll stick with SABnzbd, Giganews and NZBmatrix.

[iceburns288]

I have this on my 360 and it's really awesome. However, don't get too pumped up about it. The title availability, even in the US, on instant viewing is pretty poor. Most of the titles in my Instant Queue are stuff that I wouldn't normally watch, but it's the best of what I could find. Lots of good documentaries, though. My instant queue is stuff like seasons of Dirty Jobs, Man vs Wild, Southpark, etc.

But yeah, new releases are few and far between (and the ones that do come to instant viewing are crap).