Video on Demand Online Streaming Services in Canada

The closure of Shomi, the survival of CraveTV, and what’s good for digital content in Canada. Digital Content in Canada in Canada is Netflix, but there are more than 50 ways for Canadians to Canadians for ways 50 than more are there Netflix, but is Canada in The first thing that comes to mind when you think of streaming services frontier isdated because thedigitalrevolution hasarrived. how Canadians watch movies andtelevision. Though, callingitthenext Video ondemandonlinestreamingservices arethenext frontierof succeed.” - Jean-PierreBlais,ChairmanoftheCRTC shift. Weareconfident,however,thatCanadiancreatorshavetheknow-how andtoolsto around usischanging.[...] We knowthat itwillnotbeeasyforeveryonetoadaptthis talent totellourstories.Butthesystemcannotremainfrozenintimewhenworld “Canadian televisionrestsonasolidfoundation.Wehavemorethanenoughmoneyand The way Canadian mediadecides to seize thisopportunity iscrucial. audiences.of charge take to services online for opportunity an created bitter taste inCanadian consumers’ mouths abouttheircableproviders, general have the and packages, cable on placed regulations Recent where viewers pay amonthly fee to access commercial-free content. mid-roll adsthatappearthroughout. Othersoffer asubscriptionservice the video on their website or on a streaming channel with pre- and post content.Some distribute broadcasters ways of variety a are There channels isavailableto watch onthatsamechannel’s website. view digitalcontent. Mostprogrammingthat airsonCanadian television emerging subscriptionservices learn? hasn’t why it happenedto CraveTV, Shomi, andwhatcan to happened What wake. Shomicloseditsdoors inlate 2016whileCraveTV isstillactive. services inCanada. ShomiandCraveTV haveattempted to follow inits streaming online demand on video the to compared giant a is Netflix Background Background

Shomi is a Canadian video on demand subscription service CraveTV is a Canadian video on demand subscription service owned by Rogers and Shaw. The service launched on November owned by Bell Media. It launched on Dec 3, 2014 to Bell 4, 2014 to Rogers customers and was made available to all customers only and was made available to all Canadians Canadians after August 20, 2015. At the time of its launch, January 2016. CraveTV offers mainly television series, but has Shomi offered 1200 films and 340 television shows. Shomi recently added several movie franchises including 007 and set themselves apart from competitors by offering manually Monty Python. CraveTV programming includes exclusives curated content lists. They also signed deals with U.S.-based from HBO classic and Showtime. CraveTV reached one million Starz, BBC Worldwide, and were the Canadian home of the subscribers in November 2016. Amazon Prime series Transparent and The CW’s Jane the Virgin.

In September 2016, Shomi announced it would be shutting down on November 30, 2016

Challenges Challenges

Shomi faced multiple challenges from its launch to its closure. Until recently, CraveTV provided limited content, offering mainly The service was made available to a limited audience at first only television series, and no series geared towards kids and and offered limited content compared to competitors. Another family. CraveTV was also only available to limited audience challenge was app availability; Shomi could not be accessed on in the beginning and once the free trial promotion ended, as many devices as Netflix and CraveTV. subscription numbers dropped significantly.

Internal issues within Shaw and Rogers could have also contributed to Shomi’s closure. In 2016, Shaw was bought by Corus for $2.65 billion.

Both Rogers and Bell face growing distrust from Canadians who are fed up with high cable, cell phone, and internet prices. As a result, Rogers-owned Shomi and Bell-owned CraveTV were at a disadvantage from the very beginning.

The biggest obstacle facing Shomi and CraveTV is the American-owned video streaming giant Netflix. Netflix entered the film and television scene in 2010, four years before Shomi and CraveTV. Solutions Research Group estimates 5.2 million Canadians use the service as of April 2016. Netflix spends $300 million on research and development annually, developing algorithms to keep ahead of competitors and to provide excellent user experience. Original Content Original Content

Between, an original scifi drama produced in collaboration with Letterkenny, is a 30-minute comedy produced by Bell Media Netflix and Rogers, was the only original content offered on for CraveTV. It is set in a fictional Ontario town and filmed in Shomi. But the show aired first on American Netflix and then Sudbury. The first season debuted on CraveTV in February 2016 on City, before it was available for streaming on Shomi for and was later marathoned on the Comedy Network on Canada Canadians. Its first season went live on Shomi on May 21, 2015 Day. The second season of Letterkenny debuted on Christmas and a second season was availble July 1, 2016. The show was Day, 2016. Each season is made up of six episodes. There will panned by critics and viewers, receiving no awards and only also be a special made to air on St. Patrick’s Day, 2017. To date, gathering a small following. nearly one in three CraveTV subscribers have watched the series. It has been nominated for 8 Canadian Screen Awards including Best TV Comedy and Best Lead Actor in a Comedy for 2017.

Reviews Reviews

22% Rotten Tomatoes “Well, imagine if Trailer Park Boys and the characters on Corner Gas had some kids together.” “Despite the intriguing premise, Between’s writing winds up - Toronto Star being as deadly as the show’s virus—except this sickness affects viewers of all ages.” “Letterkenny may be the most Canadian TV comedy ever made.” - EW.com - The Canadian Press

“...a slice of homegrown comedy we haven’t seen since, well, ever.” - TV-eh? Original Content Original Content Original Content

Between (2015- ) Letterkenny (2016- )* House of Cards (2013- )* Russell Peters is the Indian Detective (2017- ) Hemlock Grove (2013)* Orange is the New Black (2013- )* Marco Polo (2014) Bloodline (2015)* Sense8 (2015- )* Narcos (2015- )* Stranger Things (2016- )* The Get Down (2016- ) The Crown (2016- )* Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (2016) The OA (2016) A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017- )

* award-winning television shows

Subscription Information Subscription Information Subscription Information

Launched in 2014 Launched in 2014 Launched in 2010 $8.99 per month $7.99 per month $7.99, $9.99, or $11.99 a month 1,200 films and 11,000 hours worth of television 4 different prepaid subscription plan options: 4245 titles available in Canada (as of 2016) “We recently approached 900K subs and even 1 month, 3, 6 or 12 months. From June 2015 to June 2016 grew by 1 million today we are not far off that number, which 25,000 episodes from 1300 titles new subscribers would likely make Shomi a Top 10 service in 1 million subscribers as of November 2016 5.2 million Canadian homes as of April 2016 North America” - David Asch, senior VP The Future is Here dark horseintherace, butthey seem to beonto something. folded quickly underthepressure. CraveTV hasbeen the of thegate, even winningawardsfor theirmarketing, but shouldn’t waitanother7 years. Shomipresented strongout seniority. asubscriptionchannel Those lookingto start Netflix launchedin2010, givingthem experience and Now isthetimeto start. who arefedupwiththeirBellorRogersservice. net-neutrality, whichisappealingtoCanadianconsumers encourages theremovalofdatacapsandpromotes from classiccabletoonlinevideoservices.Netflix for somuchinourdailylives.Canadiansareswitching Everyone isonlineandconnected,werelyontheinternet The countryisgoingdigital. in aworld of channelsthat castawide they create amazing Canadian content, whichsetsthemapart television anddoesn’toffer any kidsprogramming. However. invest alotinresearchand production. CraveTV specializes in They listen to andinteract withtheiraudience andthey producing originalandexclusive content for theirchannel. are offering, andwhatthey arenot. Netflix is constantly Continue to closely watch whatotherdigitalservices Note others.

programming net. - Huffington Post, 2016 group sayingthey streamTV.” four in10,with38percent thatage millennials, thatnumberrises tonearly using somestreamingdevice. Among households (aboutthreemillion homes) to watchTV,with26percent of PlayStation, AppleTVandChromecast streaming devicesliketheSony “Canadians areincreasinglyusing “What makes a production Canadian? For too long, narrow criteria have prevented potentially successful content from being Oh, Canada made by Canadians. In a world where Create something new. the content’s origin is secondary to its quality and desirability, we need to show There is a race to be the first to get the rights to popular and exclusive content, but the most exclusive content you more flexibility in determining which can have is something you’ve made yourself. A channel productions can benefit from financial should have value: a reason to choose them over, or in addition to, the other subscription channels out there. support. We are taking the first steps in Figure out what sets you apart from the others. What can you offer specifically that another doesn’t? this direction with two pilot projects, and encouraging others to join us on this Embrace Canada. exciting journey. Let’s give the world Canadians love Canada. Embrace the talent, embrace great content made by Canada.” the culture, embrace the people. Don’t be shy. Let the Canadian-ness shine through, eh. - Jean-Pierre Blais, Chairman of the CRTC