Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

Rogers and Shaw Launching SHOMI streaming video

99K views 414 replies 95 participants last post by  Dr.Dave 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
#2 ·
Likely will need an IP capable set top box for it then?

I know the NB3 is.. not sure if the 8642 or the 4642 are? Definitely nothing old likely.


Looks like this MAY do ok.. might give a lot of serious competition to Netflix in Canada... look like they DO have the content, comparably to Netflix.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Shaw Press Release

shomi what I’m missing: New streaming service to deliver superior user experience and most popular content to Canadians, this fall


Tired of the endless scrolling? Team of entertainment experts hand pick recommendations for you

Tired of watching outdated series? More than 11,000 hours of past seasons of the most popular TV shows


TORONTO/CALGARY, August 26, 2014 – shomi, a new subscription video-on-demand service, ups the ante in entertainment with the latest, most exclusive shows and selections personalized for you. Available initially on tablet, mobile, online, Xbox 360 and set top boxes, shomi will launch in beta first to Rogers and Shaw Internet or TV customers. shomi will be available starting the first week of November at a suggested retail price of $8.99 per month.

shomi was created for entertainment lovers by entertainment lovers. It features prior seasons of the most popular shows on TV today, iconic series from the past, cult-classic and fan-favourite films, as well as a library of family-friendly kids programming. With exclusive past-season streaming rights to titles – such as Modern Family, Sons of Anarchy, Sleepy Hollow, Shameless, 2 Broke Girls, Vikings, New Girl, 24: Live Another Day, Chicago Fire, The Strain, and American Horror Story – along with first-window premieres, it’s more bang, less blah. shomi combines a team of programming experts with algorithmic technology to help you pick what you actually want to watch – whether it’s finding hidden gems, rediscovering old favourites, or remembering why you fell in love with a title in the first place.

“We’ve taken the time to talk with Canadians to find out what they want and to create an unbelievable user experience,” said Keith Pelley, President, Rogers Media. “They told us loud and clear – they want all the past seasons of the most popular, current TV shows and they want it to be easy. shomi takes the guesswork out of finding what to watch, acting like a new-age video clerk serving up all the best content based on individual viewing habits.”

“We keenly understand the media landscape is rapidly changing and that viewers are looking for greater flexibility when it comes to what they watch and how they watch it,” said Barbara Williams, Senior Vice President, Content, Shaw Media. “shomi is our first step into the new world of content streaming and we’re so pleased to be able to bring this made in Canada service to the market.”

shomi the numbers (and this is just at launch, with much more exciting content to come!):
  • 14,000 episodes and titles
  • 11,000 hours of TV shows
  • 1,200 movies
  • 340 TV series
  • 30% of content is Canadian, including TV shows and classic films
Enhanced features include trailers and factoids for movie titles to help customers make their selections, while a visually appealing interface delivers a theatrical experience. With up to six profiles per account, shomi offers a great solution for the connected home, as customers can watch on two devices and their set top boxes – all at the same time.

Additional details about the product, programming, and distribution will be announced in the coming weeks.

shomi is a joint venture owned equally by Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications. shomi will operate as a standalone entity with its own management structure.
http://www.shawmedia.ca/Media/PressReleaseDetail.aspx?pressReleaseId=6442459243
 
#5 ·
Interesting that is Shaw and Rogers teaming up. Bell talked up setting up a service like this when they made their first attempt for Astral. Wonder if Bell and Rogers had any discussions. Would the NHL contract have poisoned the well for any such joint venture between Bell and Rogers.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Here's the web site for future reference: www.shomi.com. They have a 4 minute promo video that shows the interface and features, although the first minute made me want to gag.

It makes sense for Rogers and Shaw to team up, since they don't really compete against each other. Their cable territories don't overlap and there is probably only a small competitive impact of Shaw Direct on Rogers Cable. I wonder if Bell will continue to develop it's own service. It probably makes more sense to have one Canadian provider to compete against Netflix, rather than having a fragmented environment where some services will have exclusive rights to certain shows and movies.

It will be interesting to see which STBs Rogers and Shaw will support. If they include a large part of their installed base, that could simplify access for those cable subscribers that don't have Netflix-compatible devices on every TV. Rogers and Shaw will keep their Rogers On Demand and Global Go services.

Shomi will remain in beta for the first six to 12 months, before it is available to other subscribers in Canada.
 
#11 ·
@smallmj

This is kinda answered on the SHOMI website Dr Dave posted.

Looks like rogers/shaw customers ONLY first for the BETA for it, then opened up.
But it says, at least initially, that a Rogers TV OR internet account required.
So no, wouldn't need a TV sub.

Obviously, once they open it up to others, that wouldn't require anything.
(other than for the streaming through the rogers box, would require a TV sub :p)
 
#14 ·
Well, it appears that they're doing the right thing. I only have one question: when I watch a TV show on shomi (e.g. 30 Rock), will I need to watch advertising like Hulu, or will it be ad-free like Netflix?

In the tag line:

Tired of watching outdated series? More than 11,000 hours of past seasons of the most popular TV shows
What makes a series outdated? Because there is a Season 5 of Modern Family, does that mean Season 4 is outdated? The reason I ask is that it appears the latest seasons won't be on Shomi, so doesn't that make all their content outdated in the same sense that Netflix content is outdated? At least Hulu has new TV content available within days after it's original air date.

Either way, this is a big win for streaming video services and it'll only hasten the demise of traditional proprietary BDU networks. I know they're saying that "oh, it's complimentary to Shaw Go, blah blah", but at this price level their mainstream cable subscriptions are getting less and less appealing.

If it's not available via the internet (i.e. if they tie it to a cable sub) then it's dead. Plus, Netflix is such a massive competitor now, it'll take a lot of effort on Shomi's part to be able to play in the same league. I skimmed the Q&A video, but so far all I'm getting is that it's a "me too" service. They keep mentioning that their user interface will be great, but I really question whether they can go toe-to-toe with Netflix on the software development front. The Netflix client software is everywhere - hell, it's built into most TVs.

They're talking as if they see Netflix in their rear view mirror; little do they know that they're about to get lapped.
 
#15 ·
It would be nice to have a listing of what is going to be available .The promo website is very sparse .They do mention some Fx shows which could be a draw for those that do not subscribe (not sure if netflix has these). If they have a lot of interesting series from the Uk and Australia that i can't get now then i might find it of interest .
 
#16 ·
@buckycat
I was thinking that too.. and in some ways, depending on the content.. it MIGHT.
This may hasten the demise of the OD stuff, in favor of this?
The big difference, is when its done and released to people outside rogers/shaw.. much like Netflix.. will remove the NEED to have potentially a cable account (if the content you want is there).. compared to with OD stuff, its tied to you having the corresponding cable account.

@audacity
For at least the smart TV's, shouldn't be as big of a deal. Most of them, the Netflix thing included, is just an APP that is installed on the TV. Easy enough to make one available.
(LG I think, has a native rogers on demand app now if I remember correctly).
Other devices tho, blurays, etc.. where its more pre-bundled.. yeah, might be a bit more of an issue.

I don't think at all, this will be a "SHOMI IS HERE, NETFLIX IS DEAD" type thing..
But as long as they keep up with the content (which it appears they may have more than Netflix Canada anyways?), price right, it will at MINIMUM help hasten things more towards the more complete streamed home (away from cable tv distribution as a whole), as well as put pressure on Netflix Canada, etc to then PROVIDE more content, etc.
 
#18 ·
Here's my predictions:

(a) Shomi bandwidth does count towards your monthly usage limits, which won't go up as a result,
(b) you will still need to pay for cable TV to receive the service (even after Beta),
(c) Bell TV programming will not be available since it's a S/R not a S/R/B partnership,
(d) this won't even put a dent in Netflix usage,
(e) most of the other Shaw/Rogers apps will eventually be rolled into this service,
(f) you'll get commercials that you can't skip.

It's already been announced that it's going to be available online and mobile, on 2 devices and 1 STB concurrently. As far as Shaw STBs, my guess is only the Shaw Gateway will get it and not the Motorola boxes.
 
#19 ·
From an article at The Globe and Mail:

How will consumers be able to access it?

Shomi will be available on five platforms at launch – tablet, mobile (iOS and Android), online, Xbox 360 and and set-top boxes. Those who access it through their cable boxes will encounter more basic graphics, but they won’t have to worry about it counting against their Internet data cap for the month.
What you need to know about the new Rogers, Shaw video service, Shomi

I will be interested to see if that turns out to be true.
 
#20 ·
It appears this will be more like HULU than Netflix, more of a service to compliment Netflix, with newer programming options. I hope they have a Classics section for both Tv and Movies. I don't think it's going to cannabalize Netflix customers but if they want it to succeed they definitely need to make it universally available to anyone Canada wide. Between Rogers and SHAW they own a lot of content, so Bell may have to think twice about launching it's own service.
 
#21 ·
After reading the Globe article, it sounds like shomi may not be sold directly to consumers. shomi had a press conference this morning, so I assume that is where a lot of the new information originated.

I hope they do offer the direct-to-consumer option like Netflix, but I can see shomi doing wholesale deals with other providers like Telus, MTS or Cogeco that would put the service on their TV STBs with the provider getting a percentage of the monthly fee.
 
#23 ·
More bad news

Rogers and Shaw Internet customers who access Shomi via their computer or mobile devices will have to dip into their data plans to stream content on the service, said Pelley. And there’s no guarantee that the two Internet providers will offer a level playing field when it comes to streaming their own service versus competitors like Netflix.

“All that would be speculation right now,” said Pelley of any potential bandwidth advantage Shomi might be given over Netflix. Williams, when asked if she could explicitly say that Shomi streaming traffic would not be given precedence over competitors’ traffic, said, “No, I will not explicitly say that. But we know that it’s really important that our customers feel they’re getting a high-quality streaming service at a reasonable price.”
Source: http://www.torontosun.com/2014/08/26/rogers-shaw-team-up-for-netflix-competitor-shomi
 
#24 ·
If this is not a direct competitor and replacement for NETFLIX CANADA. I see no point to it. If its only going to be available to ROGERS or Shaw customers it will not even come close to competing with NETFLIX.

Also they better offer a Free month as Netflix did. :) IT took the free month to convince me to try and stay.. Im not excited about a new 8$ charge.. But if the UI and content is the better i would move my 8$ from one to the other..

The UI is supposed to be pretty bad ass.

http://www.youi.tv/showcase/shomi/
 
#26 ·
It appears this will be more like HULU than Netflix
We can only hope. If it duplicates much of the free (for subscribers) Rogers and Shaw VOD TV content it would be. If it only offers the dated VOD content available for pay (typically $4.99 for a movie or 3 TV episodes), then it will be another Netflix-like service. I don't expect to see premium content for $8.99/mo but it would be nice to see current network and specialty channel TV shows.

I am reserving judgement until I see the actual lineup. It's easy to say they have thousands of shows but that's easy to do with catalogs of cheap, worn out content. What counts is what's worth watching now.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top