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Netflix coming to Canada Fall 2010 (Update: Now Available)

178K views 848 replies 171 participants last post by  flavoie 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Press Release issued today

LOS GATOS, Calif., July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Netflix, Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX), the leading Internet movie subscription service, today announced it will expand into Canada this fall offering unlimited movies and TV episodes streamed instantly to TVs and computers for one low monthly fee. The Canadian launch will mark the first availability of Netflix outside the United States.

Canadian Netflix members will be able to instantly watch a broad array of movies and TV episodes right on their TVs via a range of consumer electronics devices capable of streaming from Netflix, as well as watching on PCs and Macs.

In addition to representing its inaugural international market, Canada will also mark the first streaming-only service promoted by Netflix.

At the time of launch, the Netflix Canadian service will be available in English only, but the company said it expects to add French language capability over time.
See Post 133 for start of user experiences.
 
#64 ·
Different compared to what? I don't think I understand what you're trying to point out.

We have many devices (DVD players, Bluray players, TV's, etc) that, in the US, have Netflix support. You can access the Netflix library straight from the device itself. But that same device in Canada has that feature removed because we don't have Netflix.... yet.

Now that Netflix is coming to Canada, the big question is if those removed features will be implemented by the manufacturers. Netflix has to negotiate distribution rights for the content, though. Those device manufacturers can "flip the switch" to enable the support, but Netflix has to have agreements.

So I'm not sure what you're trying to say.
 
#65 ·
Netflix must already have negociated canadian licensing rights to at least a good portion of their library; otherwise they would not have announced the service availability in the Fall.

That said, I think the point made here is whether canadians will have access to the full 17000-some titles Netflix library. If a portion of the licensing rights could not be resolved leading on some titles not being available to us, it makes the offer less attractive.

But I choose to stay positive. After all, I am a shareholder, and Netflix has some of the best customer satisfaction levels in the US, something they likely would not risk endangering before moving to a new market. I know, the big canadian companies may not care as mush about customer satisfaction, but it is a big deal to Netflix.
 
#66 ·
Netflix could end up like some music services. That is, with about 25% as many titles as the US version but for the same price. It's all about obtaining distribution rights, which seems to be a lot more difficult for US based companies operating in Canada.
 
#67 ·
Obviously, one person (from the article) assumed that ALL the same movies "could" be made available in Canada, and the other "smarter" person mentioned that it would depend on rights negotiations.

I assume that we have little chance of streaming episodes of "The Littlest Hobo" from Netflix.ca because I believe CTV owns the rights and might currently be streaming the episodes on its website for free. Volume 1 of the series is also available on DVD at Zip.ca and Cinemail has Volume 2 of the series.
 
#68 ·
Rogers lowers download limits as Netflix looms

Rogers Communications, the country's second-biggest internet provider, is lowering the usage limits on some of its plans, just days after online video service Netflix announced it was expanding into Canada.

Users who signed up for the cable company's "Extreme" service after July 21 will be allowed 80 gigabytes of monthly usage, versus 90 GB for those who signed up before.

Customers who sign up for the "Lite" service will now get 15 GB, versus 25 GB before.
 
#69 ·
Bell is expected to lower their bandwidth limits as well, after a recent CRTC decision.

I don't think users of streaming services should be worried when using caps around 60GBytes. A conservative average of 1GByte/hour would give you 60 hours/month on a 60GBytes plan.
 
#70 ·
I don't think users of streaming services should be worried when using caps around 60GBytes. A conservative average of 1GByte/hour would give you 60 hours/month on a 60GBytes plan.
Given that you do absolutely nothing else on the net. Is that a reasonable expectation? And you're also ignoring TCP/IP overhead. This is 2010. 1 GB of streaming data is probably closer to 1.3GB with overhead.

I hate it when companies compare bandwidth in terms of MP3 songs, books, etc. Very misleading.
 
#71 ·
I am using a very broad approximation of 1GBytes/hour since Netflix uses different encoding for different players and even switches to lower encoding if it sees congestion on your network. So i am not ignoring overhead, feel free to make your own estimate based on the data from Netflix.

For details, you can check Netflix's website. "netflix encoding" in Google would do the job. I'll try pasting the link to their "Encoding for streaming page" in my next post.
 
#75 ·
You can get the figures yourself using a calculator:

http://web.forret.com/tools/filesize.asp?speed=3800&unit=Kbps&dur=3600

Their highest quality run video at 1.7GB/hr and that's just pure video bitstream. Add audio bitstream and overhead. You get more than 2GB per hour. And with ISPs increasing speed (and lowering caps), you're pretty much assured to have enough bandwidth for the highest quality and reach the cap faster. More money to ISPs.

You also assume that Netflix will be the only game in town. There's an emerging competition trying to come out. XBox Live, iTunes, PSN, Zip.ca soon, etc. It won't be just Netflix.
 
#76 ·
Thanks Marc for contributing and moving us forward. I input the highest Standard definition, first generation encoding in that tool. 2200Kbps turns out to 990 MBytes/hour according to it. This would be the worst case scenario for a user using the highest SD streaming with an older generation player requiring higher bandwidth. Newer players require less bandwidth. Since most of their library is SD feeds, I am standing to my 1GByte/hour estimate.

The main reason I am also basing my estimate on SD feeds is not just the library, but also on the limit your Internet connection will also deliver you in the real world. 2200Kbps sustained bandwidth is fairly high in my opinion.
 
#77 ·
You really think people will choose SD over HD when given the choice and be also very conscious about the bandwidth used? And 2200Kbps is not the max SD.

We encode most content at 500, 1000, 1600, and 2200kbps VBR, but some titles whose source quality merits it have also been encoded at 3400kbps.
That was back in 2008. The "some" part refers to a much larger library today. And don't assume that only PC viewing will be used. We will have Netflix-ready devices too.
 
#78 ·
I am being pragmatic. I actually don't expect sustained download rates of 2200 Kbps from a current day broadband connection. I just don't think ISPs are ready for it right now. When the connections begins to slow down, the Netflix player will automatically start buffering at a lower rate and switch seamslessly, leading to a lower bandwidth utilization for you.

Same goes for an HD feed. Once the player realizes your connection can't match the sustained rate, it'll likely downgrade the rate or have you wait and the movie would be paused. On a slower broadband connection, you may realize yourself that you're better off staying with SD feeds.

Now if the ISPs could suddenly open things up, upgrade their core networks to allow all users to actually use up all their advertised bandwidth and of course leave the bandwidth caps on, it's fair game. Then you absolutely have a good argument. In this case, a user could use between 30 to 60 hours a month of Netflix using SD feeds, with any other usage of Internet eating from it.
 
#79 ·
I am being pragmatic. I actually don't expect sustained download rates of 2200 Kbps from a current day broadband connection. I just don't think ISPs are ready for it right now
And yet Rogers offers just that with RODO. Go figure...

But I guess we don't have any problems. Rogers can reduce caps all they want, consumers are not getting burned despite getting closer to paying more by reaching the cap. And you're again assuming people will use their net connection for nothing, but Netflix streaming. And assume that there will only be Netflix. There are huge gaps in your logic.

By the way, 2200kbps is very sustainable. Where do you get that notion that the network can't? Are we really that backward technologically?
 
#80 ·
About the notion I have that the network can't sustain these high speeds: throttling.

Major ISPs have had to explain why they had to throttle their users, and my personal opinion is that their core networks can't keep up.

I think Rogers RODO is a worthwhile competitor to mention. They own both the pipes to user and the content delivery. They can make sure any throttling don't apply to RODO but applies to Netflix users.
 
#82 ·
That's excellent then. People will be happy with their streaming service, but they will need to watch their caps. Use more, then pay your ISP more.

I don't think i'll be able to get as much from my DSL personnally, but if Rogers can do it, good for them.

I think this new upcoming service, if the library is of similar size as the US one, brings so much more than what is currently brought out by other on-demand, canadian services.

Download caps are almost bit like water meters. In places where people don't have them, people abuse the resource. Where you have them, there is enough for everyone and people wanting to pay more will get more. I don't know where i'm going with this, i just wanted to see if you would read the rest of my post ;)
 
#84 ·
Download caps are almost bit like water meters.
Yes... Because bits and clean drinkable water are directly equivalent. A bit is a rare natural resource that can't be produced cheap. We only have a very finite amount of bits being held in tanks. If I use 1GB in one day, that's 1GB that I took away from my neighbors. Next thing you know, someone will say that the Internet is a series of tubes.
 
#85 ·
Good one, Marc. I work in the telecom industry, and believe it or not, people marketing gear for networks still refer to pipes, flow of data, these are all accepted and widely used terms, so if you've also not heard the term bottleneck, well that also applies to data and bits.

In my case, I don't consider any on-demand service to be a direct replacement for TV service. I think it makes a great add-on to a OTA antenna, or basic cable/satellite service. Instead of going for some specialty channels like the Movie Network, a user could decide to watch Netflix instead.

In my case (again) I don't plan on spending more than 2 hours a day on such a service, since my OTA antenna or basic service would complement this already.
 
#86 ·
I should add...

People using Netflix in the US are using it as a DVD rental substitution, not as a complete cable-replacement service.

One thing you have to ask yourself - are you renting movies or paying Pay per view movies to the pace of 1 or 2 hours a day outside your current cable subscription ?
 
#93 ·
MarcP said:
Face it, we'll never get good quality internet service like other countries have. We're nearly at the bottom of the list. It is impossible for us to get that level of service so why bother...
Not true. There is good internet. But it depends where you live.
http://productsandservice.bellalian...oductsandservices.fibreop_internet&curbody=21 that is a 25/5 unlimited AND untrottled internet connection! Heck, Internet Max is a 13/1 unlimited and untrottled connection.
 
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