Netflix coming to Canada!

I know details are still sketchy about dates and pricing, but if the Wii streaming service becomes available here I'm definitely interested in learning more. Thanks for sharing the news.
 
Obviously the key questions are whether the selection will be any good and what the pricing will be.

Still, this is great news. I don't think there's much question that the streaming over 360 and the other consoles will work. If I can't stream through something that's always attached to my TV (PS3 in my case, although I worry about how fast the wireless connection is), it's no sale.
 
Well, I am reading the streaming over consoles is a go and that there will be no mailing of DVDs. Looking forward to hearing more details over the coming months.
 
The email notification page only mentioned the streaming "watch instantly" stuff, so maybe subscription fees will actually be *lower* than in the US where they also have access to DVDs and Blu-Rays. Apparently the streaming selection isn't that great, but hey, better than nothing.

Can't wait to hear more about this.
 
If I'm not going to rent the Blu-ray at a store I think I'd rather rent/download an HD version at the Playstation Store (if they get better selection) than stream something, but that all depends on the quality. I just don't like the idea of streaming and imagine the quality wouldn't be good. That's not based on experience though so I'll hope for the best.
 
If this works well enough my star choice ($50 a month) will be cancelled. The quality of TV shows have gone down and price has steadily increased. With PSN, iTunes and watch.ctv.ca I'm been thinking about cancelling it anyway.
 
Good, all those Netflix stickers I see on those new PS3s wouldn't be a lie. I'm interested, but my bandwidth is already tipping the 60 GB per month with regular streaming.
 
If this gets included in the fall update for Xbox 360, I will be a very, very happy man. I will not complain about the cold winter this year as long as I have Netflix to keep me warm...
 
Gotta wonder how Rogers and BBV feel about this. If (and most likely when) Netflix catches on in Canada, it could end BBV. I think Rogers will be ok with their On Demand / Rogers Direct, but Netflix could take a sizable chunk of their business.

Now bring on Hulu please.
 
[quote name='Princess Zelda']If this works well enough my star choice ($50 a month) will be cancelled. The quality of TV shows have gone down and price has steadily increased. With PSN, iTunes and watch.ctv.ca I'm been thinking about cancelling it anyway.[/QUOTE]


I'd have canceled my TV long ago if it wasn't for my addiction to live HD sports content.
 
[quote name='ssjmichael']pretty sad that Canada is treated like a third world country[/QUOTE]
Care to elaborate? I'm not sure how getting USA based service later than people from the USA qualifies as 3rd world country status.
 
[quote name='Clark.Griswold']Care to elaborate? I'm not sure how getting USA based service later than people from the USA qualifies as 3rd world country status.[/QUOTE]

Clark! Don't upset the super saiyan!!!


I am so pumped for this. If I can't stream this to my basement PS3/XBox 360, I will be devastated. My gf's father is an electrician, I am honestly contemplating talking to him about threading an ethernet cable from the router upstairs to my devices in the basement.

I. Am. Excited.

!!!!
 
[quote name='Talus']Streaming to consoles has been pretty much confirmed from what I've been reading.[/QUOTE]

*Wrings hands* Excellent!

100276794_548c83c4eb.jpg
 
[quote name='Clark.Griswold']Care to elaborate? I'm not sure how getting USA based service later than people from the USA qualifies as 3rd world country status.[/QUOTE]

Obviously I'm talking figuratively... I'm just saying companies like Netflix, Hulu, Sony, Microsoft, Apple, etc..should care about Canadians more and bring their products and services there in a timely manner. Waiting years to have services the US had for years, and in what looks to be a gimped form (no discs by mail from the looks of it) is unacceptable.
 
[quote name='ssjmichael']Obviously I'm talking figuratively... I'm just saying companies like Netflix, Hulu, Sony, Microsoft, Apple, etc..should care about Canadians more and bring their products and services there in a timely manner. Waiting years to have services the US had for years, and in what looks to be a gimped form (no discs by mail from the looks of it) is unacceptable.[/QUOTE]
They do the same to Europe. And thats a MUCH bigger market.
 
[quote name='IceBlueShoes']They do the same to Europe. And thats a MUCH bigger market.[/QUOTE]

Two wrongs != right

Canada is treated very similar to Europe despite the geographical differences, and greater ease of setting up such services.
 
[quote name='ssjmichael']Canada is treated very similar to Europe despite the geographical differences, and greater ease of setting up such services.[/QUOTE]

The 'issue' has nothing to do with geography; rather, with licensing. I'd bet that Netflix's lawyers have been negotiating Canadian deals ever since they stabilized in the US. And again, it doesn't sound like the traditional 'mail delivery' service will be offered to Canada anyway. Digital only.

Whys and wherefores aside, it's a pretty big deal. If Netflix service turns out to be good enough up here, I'm going to talk to the wife about cancelling cable and moving our phone and internet from Shaw to Teksavvy/Voip.
 
[quote name='Solid-Snake-Eyes'] I just don't like the idea of streaming and imagine the quality wouldn't be good. That's not based on experience though so I'll hope for the best.[/QUOTE]

the quality is great if you have the speed. I have 25Mbps Fios so I can stream HD from Netflix on my 360 and it looks great.
 
[quote name='WillGabriel']The 'issue' has nothing to do with geography; rather, with licensing. I'd bet that Netflix's lawyers have been negotiating Canadian deals ever since they stabilized in the US. And again, it doesn't sound like the traditional 'mail delivery' service will be offered to Canada anyway. Digital only.

Whys and wherefores aside, it's a pretty big deal. If Netflix service turns out to be good enough up here, I'm going to talk to the wife about cancelling cable and moving our phone and internet from Shaw to Teksavvy/Voip.[/QUOTE]

Also you have to see how spaced out the population is, in the south it's pretty compact and easier.

Another thing to note is that the Canadian government probably had a hand in the lack of cool companies delivering cool services/products. Just like how they locked out every company to operate within Canada as a wireless phone provider (basically Bell, Rogers and their subsidiaries).

One way or the other though, I still download TV shows and movies, I could care less, I'm not home all the time and I'm not about to pay just for them to give me the go-ahead to watch whenever the hell I get home.
 
[quote name='ssjmichael']Two wrongs != right

Canada is treated very similar to Europe despite the geographical differences, and greater ease of setting up such services.[/QUOTE]

A huge part of the problem is the regulatory or licensing hurdles such services face. Look at iTunes. It took 14 months to come here versus eight in the big 3 European countries (France, U.K., Germany). They didn't open up a digital storefront in Luxembourg before Canada because Canada didn't matter to them.

I'm a little concerned about what exactly we'll see, because even on paid video downloading services, the selection of TV content isn't exactly fantastic.
 
This is excellent news if I can stream over TV shows. I don't really care as much about movies as I do about old TV shows and the only thing I need to worry about is switching ISP providers. Otherwise, this is useless with having a bandwidth limit but this is still excellent news.
 
[quote name='kromekoran']the quality is great if you have the speed. I have 25Mbps Fios so I can stream HD from Netflix on my 360 and it looks great.[/QUOTE]

Where the *bleep* do you get 25 Mbps and a large enough download cap that allows you to ACTUALLY use it?!

Not to digress too far OT, but I'll tell you where we are treated WORSE than a "3rd world country", and thats with cel phone and internet plans.

When I was living in BRAZIL I got a better deal on both. Almost no country in the world has it as bad.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/08/11/canada-cellphone-rates-expensive-oecd.html
---
Sam.
 
I'm all over this when it happens, and canceling our current TV provider. All we use it for is watching old cartoons anyway.
 
[quote name='Talus']TekSavvy offers nice unlimited plans but does anybody know if the speed they offer will have issues with Netflix streaming?

http://teksavvy.com/en/res-internet.asp[/QUOTE]

I've streamed a movie through Zune Video on my 360 since switching to them in June and it worked flawlessly. I am loving Teksavvy.

On a side note, this is good news. However, I have too much stuff to play and to watch that I won't be signing up for this. I would need to divert some of my entertainment time to it to justify the cost.
 
[quote name='eday_2010']I've streamed a movie through Zune Video on my 360 since switching to them in June and it worked flawlessly. I am loving Teksavvy.

On a side note, this is good news. However, I have too much stuff to play and to watch that I won't be signing up for this. I would need to divert some of my entertainment time to it to justify the cost.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the info! Makes me feel better :) Was it an HD or SD movie?
 
[quote name='SamusekTDS']Where the *bleep* do you get 25 Mbps and a large enough download cap that allows you to ACTUALLY use it?!

Not to digress too far OT, but I'll tell you where we are treated WORSE than a "3rd world country", and thats with cel phone and internet plans.

When I was living in BRAZIL I got a better deal on both. Almost no country in the world has it as bad.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/08/11/canada-cellphone-rates-expensive-oecd.html
---
Sam.[/QUOTE]
He is most likely an American, unless I'm mistaken. I don't believe any Canadian ISP's have Fios yet.
 
I am American, in Los Angeles. sorry about the confusion, I was just trying to say that if you have the bandwidth you can stream from Netflix well. and it's Verizon Fios with that speed, and no download caps.

I'm not familiar with Canadian ISPs, but are download caps the norm up there? I have a friend in Ontario and he does plenty of downloading of movies and music from torrents, but he's never talked about having to manage a monthly limit.
 
It depends on where you live. The big ISPs in western Canada don't enforce their caps so we don't worry about it much. The big ISPs in eastern Canada do and so there's tons of complaints there, but they also have a lot more smaller ISPs to choose from with decent caps (200GB) and unlimited options.

I have a 10 - 15 mb/s service with unlimited bandwidth cap because Telus doesn't track usage at this speed.

As far as speeds to effectively use this, a 5mb/s speed should be enough to stream HD iirc.

The reason Canada gets this stuff late (or not at all) is because of licensing. The same companies who own the rights to these shows and movies do not own the rights in Canada. They have to negotiate with Canwest Global, CTVglobemedia, Quebecor, etc. Not to mention we have 30 million people whereas the USA has 300 million making us a lot less important to most companies' eyes.
 
[quote name='kromekoran']I am American, in Los Angeles. sorry about the confusion, I was just trying to say that if you have the bandwidth you can stream from Netflix well. and it's Verizon Fios with that speed, and no download caps.

I'm not familiar with Canadian ISPs, but are download caps the norm up there? I have a friend in Ontario and he does plenty of downloading of movies and music from torrents, but he's never talked about having to manage a monthly limit.[/QUOTE]

It's quite common in Ontario now and it sucks a lot. Pretty much the best ISP is teksavvy in terms of bandwidth caps and if your friend is with them that is probably why you haven't heard much about it.
 
[quote name='game_fanatic']He is most likely an American, unless I'm mistaken. I don't believe any Canadian ISP's have Fios yet.[/QUOTE]

In eastern Canada (NB), some places have had the option of FiberOp (from Bell Aliant) since 2009. It offers speeds up to 70 mbps, and I don't think there is a bit cap. I don't have it, but some guys I work with do ... they are quite pleased.

I'm not trying to promote it, but here is the product page:

http://productsandservice.bellalian...roductsandservices.fibreop_overview&curbody=2
 
[quote name='onemorechanc']In eastern Canada (NB), some places have had the option of FiberOp (from Bell Aliant) since 2009. It offers speeds up to 70 mbps, and I don't think there is a bit cap. I don't have it, but some guys I work with do ... they are quite pleased.

I'm not trying to promote it, but here is the product page:

http://productsandservice.bellalian...roductsandservices.fibreop_overview&curbody=2[/QUOTE]

*spit take*

Wait.... WHAT?!

How is 70mbps and NO CAP 119$ a month in NB - while i pay 80$/month for 7mbps in QC?!

How is this not available in ON and QC?!

:shock:

I'm gonna need a little lie down now...
---
Sam.
 
[quote name='onemorechanc']In eastern Canada (NB), some places have had the option of FiberOp (from Bell Aliant) since 2009. It offers speeds up to 70 mbps, and I don't think there is a bit cap. I don't have it, but some guys I work with do ... they are quite pleased.

I'm not trying to promote it, but here is the product page:

http://productsandservice.bellalian...roductsandservices.fibreop_overview&curbody=2[/QUOTE]

Yeah I figured my post was going to be inaccurate, but I was way too lazy to do some research beforehand, and I figured another CAG would put me in my place if I was wrong heh, thanks!
 
[quote name='Heartless18']Gotta wonder how Rogers and BBV feel about this. If (and most likely when) Netflix catches on in Canada, it could end BBV. I think Rogers will be ok with their On Demand / Rogers Direct, but Netflix could take a sizable chunk of their business.

Now bring on Hulu please.[/QUOTE]

Well, I think we know how Rogers feels about it now:

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/07/22/rogers-download-limits.html

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.
Click to expand...

Unbelievable.
 
[quote name='Clark.Griswold']Brutal. ISP's need to get with the times and update their backbone. It's the only way to properly keep up with the inevitable coming of mass digital distribution on all our entertainment.[/QUOTE]

First they raise the amount it costs if you go over your bandwith limit (which for me only happened three times in the 9yrs I have been with Rogers minus the years where it was UNLIMITED). Then they go ahead and charge new people the same amount but give them 10GB less of a limit which can break the camels back.

My answer to Rogers well its been fun but I am soon changing ISP providers. I am sick of Rogers BS and if Netflix is priced right then I guess I will get rid of my Rogers Video Direct mail in service too. I just hope the CRTC allows a lot of good TV shows to be streamed.
 
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