This week US company ExtendMedia said that it was the power behind a new TV Everywhere type service in Canada, referred to internally as TV Anywhere, but marketed by Bell Canada through the Online TV button on its own portal, called TMN Online. The idea is the same as that in the US, pioneered by Time Warner Cable and taken up by Comcast, which is that programming shown on cable TV can be viewed for free by subscribers.
The service was launched just a week ago and enables Bell TV subscribers with The Movie Network to watch movies and other TV series, from any computer with access to broadband service from inside Canada, not just from the subscribers own home broadband line.
Viewers can access around 130 hours of content a week and can fast-forward, rewind, play and pause movies and series and review title descriptions.
“The Bell TV Online portal is a rich value-added service for Bell TV subscribers. By working with Astral Media to deliver TMN Online, customers can get movies and shows on demand with the convenience of watching on their computer or laptop wherever they can access the Internet,” said Kevin Crull, President of Bell Residential Services. “As the first TV provider to offer this service in Canada, we are once again proving Bell TV is the most advanced TV service available with unbeatable value and entertainment choice for subscribers.”
The service has authentication and access linked to the subscriber, rather than to the home Internet connection, so customers stream the content to any device in Canada. Bell later hopes to make the content available to mobile phones and other devices as a kind of placeshifted service. Bell TV customers can also order Pay Per View content, and access National Hockey League games, live.
ExtendMedia said this week that the service uses its OpenCASE online video platform for asset management, with videos delivered using Microsoft’s Silverlight Internet video platform and secured using its PlayReady DRM. Trials of the US based TV Everywhere are ongoing and are thought to be fairly close to the announcement of a US national launch.