Newsletter
We had heard the Rogers and Shaw were jointly developing a new video-on-demand service, shomi (“Show Me”), to take on the popular Netflix…the official announcement was made today. The difference being that they would provide more content and get that content to their customers sooner than Netflix. Shomi will be available to Rogers’ and Shaw’s internet or cable customers, still in beta, starting in November for $8.99 a month – the same price as Netflix. You can access shomi via a tablet, mobile, online, Xbox 360 and set top boxes.
The press release says that shomi was created “for entertainment lovers, by entertainment lovers.” Like Netflix, it contains some of the most popular shows on TV today, but also popular series from the past – including cult classics and favorite films. It also has Kids and family-friendly programming and exclusive rights to titles such as Modern Family, Sleepy Hollow, Sons of Anarchy, 2 Broke Girls, 24: Live Another Day, and more. Shomi will have 14,000 episodes and titles – 11,000 hours of TV shows – 1,200 movies – 340 TV series – and 30-percent of the content is Canadian – TV shows and classic films.
Keith Pelley, President, Rogers Media said: “We’ve taken the time to talk with Canadians to find out what they want and to create an unbelievable user experience. 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.”
Barbara Williams, Senior Vice President, Content, Shaw Media added: “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. 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 will include features such as movie trailers and factoids to help customers make their movie selections. Subscribers can store up to six profiles per account and watch up to two programs at the same time using their mobile devices or set top boxes. The profiles will help shomi to select or suggest shows based on your past selections, interests or habits. There will be more announcements in the upcoming weeks. To avoid any CRTC troubles, shomi is being run as a joint venture between Rogers and Shaw, but will operate as a standalone entity run by its own management team.
Please hook up with us on our Google+ Page and let us know if shomi sounds like something that you would signup to use for $8.99 a month…as always, we would love to hear from you.