THUNDER BAY – The competition for your screen time continues to grow. In Thunder Bay for your television enjoyment, you can choose from Bell Expressview, Starchoice on the satellite side of television, or from Shaw or Tbaytel for more traditional service.
Tbaytel has just entered the television market with an innovative system that is very similar to satellite tv.
The other competition for your viewing time are either movies, video games, surfing the Internet, or reading a book. Of course one could choose a trip to the Canada Games Complex or a walk in the park too.
However in what could be a ‘game-changer’ in the video industry, Netflix.ca has also entered the scene with an online option that offers unlimited movie viewing for only $7.99 per month. This contrasts to renting movies from Blockbuster or other companies where you have to go to get the movies and then return them.
It also offers a far different service than Zip.ca. With Zip.ca, you are mailed movies that you have chosen, and as you return them others are shipped.
Netflix is fairly new to Canada, after being available in the United States for some time now.
Canadian Netflix members can choose from thousands of movies and TV episodes, including feature films, popular TV series, independent cinema, documentaries, foreign language movies, and kids’ programming. Choices are instantly streamed to TVs and computers via a broadband Internet connection – and members can watch as much as they want, whenever they want.
All that for eight dollars per month.
You will however need a compatible device to stream your movie, documentary, or television shows to your television, but as growing numbers of people have those already, that is less of a problem than perhaps an opportunity.
Having checked out Zip.ca and Netflix.ca it would be my guess that if Zip wants to keep growing they are going to have to follow suit with a similar means of streaming movies directly to subscribers.
The company announced plans in 2009 that they wanted to be the first to do that in Canada. However the company has yet to complete the transition. You can however sign up on their website for updates on the progress.
Of course the other side of that coin is that companies renting movies the old fashioned way are likely going to struggle as technology allows their former customers to by-pass their businesses and stream their movies on their television sets.
James Murray
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