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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.
 
#94 ·
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.
Add another 60GB for another family member watching different shows, 5-10GB for streaming music (maybe 2-3 times that for several family members), another 5-10GB for Skype or IP phone (or 2-3 times that.) Now you are up to 150GB billed at $2+/GB in excess of 60GB (probably soon to be 50GB.) I don't think it's much of a secret that Bell, Rogers and their closely knit corporate gang is throttling bandwidth and lowering caps in order to restrict competition and create more bandwidth for their own IP offerings. The Netflix announcement and the timing of the latest move by Rogers grossly outlines that fact to all but the densest MP on Parliament Hill. And dense or grossly corrupt they must be if they don't move to stop the stranglehold that Rogers and Bell have on the delivery of entertainment to Canadians in eastern Canada.
 
#95 ·
I have a lot of technology in my house: 5 large screen flat panel HDTVs, 3 HD PVRs, 4 current computers (not including the netbook or iPad), 2 Blu-Ray players, etc. Wifi and hardwired internet connections to all of those locations.

But the problem is still "how am I going to download or stream to my TV?". I don't want to be watching on my computer screens. And my computers are not connected to my primary TVs nor do I want them to be. And when it comes to gaming I only have a Wii which is online but not HD and only connected to one of my TVs.

So while I have a huge array or modern technologies, I still don't have anything that will work for me with Netflix. That's going to be the problem for most consumers. Hence this is probably only going to be a success for consumers with game consoles hooked up to their primary TVs.

Though I must once again credit Microsoft as being the company who saw this issue coming 10 years ago yet failed to deliver. (Along with smartphones for the general public and tablet computers.) History lesson: remember the XBOX program was started as Microsoft's way of realizing Bill's dream of having "a computer in the living room" - disguise it as a game device and then move to the consumers to more basic computer and media functions. However, I guess over time it really did morph into a true game device and bears little resemblance to the PC experience it was started under.
 
#96 ·
^ I presume we will use the same means as in the U.S., or at least something very similar. The Roku box e.g. is quite cheap and popular. Check it out on amazon.com for example. There are other brands, plus several BD players that will stream Netflix. It is just "signal", you can distribute the box's output within your house by the usual means while you're streaming.
 
#99 ·
The $100 for the box is the least of it. In this location, I am already paying an IMO outrageous price to get a maximum sustained bitrate that is a fraction of a DVD's, maybe 1/10 that of a medium BD, never mind a really good BD. How much *more* would I be willing to pay to stream way lower than BD quality? I'm sure you'd be surprised that I say ZERO DOLLARS ("they" love that phrase). :) I didn't buy the decent gear to get lower-quality entertainment SQ/PQ-wise. I know many don't care about quality, immediacy and convenience is of far more concern, and that's what Netflix is all about. As others have mentioned, they are going against Bell and Rogers (out here) providing content, so can expect a litany of underhandedness and law/rule-changing to make it as difficult and expensive as possible. Until "they" offer their own similar service of course.
 
#103 ·
Could someone please comment if this announcement will mean that Netflix will now be offered on our Tivos in Canada?

Thanks
It could, except that TiVo does not officially support the Series 3/4 models in Canada; the only models which support Netflix. They could also support Youtube, which currently has no geographic rights issues for most content, but for some reason do not.
 
#104 ·
Searching through their US website, the content available for streaming looks pretty poor. Pretty disappointing actually. Even some older movies I'd be interested in are listed as DVD only. I think I'd need the DVD+streaming combo like the US model to make this worth while to me. As much as I like movies and new technologies, I'm going to have to pass on this unless they maybe get together with or buy out/take over zip. Or if they can offer $4.99 new releases with decent quality (ala AppleTV).
 
#105 ·
I think people need to set their expectations and know what to compare with.

You are right, their streaming catalog of around 17,000 titles is nowhere near their DVD catalog of like 100,000 titles. You should really be comparing this service to The Movie Network, a subscription-based service, with older movies than in the theatres. Netflix is not a threat to Pay Per View and does not intend to compete at that level; the movies Netflix will show are usually on DVD, and usually even 1 month after they were released on DVD.

I like that they are constantly adding to their library. Their latest deal is likely going to bring much-needed, valued content to this library. (Epix=Paramount, MGM and Lions Gate)

I'm anxious to see for myself what the selection will be like. The possibility to watch past seasons of TV shows i'm interested in sound nice. Then again, I set my expectation; I would not have access to the latest season episodes, only past seasons episodes.
 
#107 ·
I will save judgment until I have actually experienced it. Being that this is new and fresh for Canada, they could be possibly using some newer technology etc. My biggest wonder is 1. when are we going to be notified of the date 2. what clients are going to be available out of the gate? eg: Is media center support going to be available on release date? Will Blu-ray players and xbox 360 etc. support netflix.ca on release date etc. I guess we will know something soon....
 
#110 ·
Picture quality

If you like a top-quality BD picture then for on-demand you're better off using your corner video store or zip.ca . Wait, does zip.ca have Blu-ray disks ?

Next is your TV provider on cable or satellite who does not provide HD TV programs comparable to a Blu-ray disk unfortunately, but will still be better quality than streaming more often than not. The variety of on-demand titles will be quite limited on those. Pick your poison...
 
#111 ·
I think zip.ca have BD but there is that lineup thing just like Netflix in the US.

regarding HD cable, unfortunately the quality of HD channels have deterioriate from acceptable to craptastic. Block-noise galore equals to the first several titles I used to own on BD (such as The Fifth Element and several others).
 
#113 ·
Zip has Blu-rays and HD DVDs too. Blu-rays tend to arrive cracked more often than DVDs (though now that Canada Post is currently modernizing its machinery, that trend might diminish over the next year or so), but you'll get a free replacement sent and a bonus shipment (usually from your Top 10) for each damaged disc you receive.

So far, Zip has 2,340 Blu-ray titles, though many are not in stock at the moment. There are also many that can be GHI'd -- pay an extra $3, $4 or $5 to reserve the next available copy and it will be sent to you when it is in stock and you're next in the GHI queue (generally a 1 day to 2 week wait, but some can take longer than that if there are limited copies).

There is no extra cost for renting Blu-rays at Zip.ca (though Netflix charges more).
 
#114 ·
Netflix does charge more for the BD service here in the US but for the price you can get many more disks a month than you would in Canada. Most of that stems from having distribution centres nearby to every major city. After moving from zip.ca service to netflix here in the US it is like night and day. I get the top movie (always a BD) in my list every time, no more getting stuck with number 20, if I ask for it, I get it.

As for the streaming, David, have you watched any of their HD streams lately? I watched the entire first season of Better Off Ted recently and the quality was fantastic. On the other hand I watched Beyond Everest and the quality was pretty subpar, but it wasn't listed in HD. So far all of the ondemand HD offerings have been quite impressive. The biggest drawback is audio but they just announced that they will be streaming 5.1 starting this fall.
 
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