Netflix has officially opened for business in Canada. The hugely successful DVD-by-mail service from the U.S. will offer Canadians access to streaming-only service for CDN $7.99 in its first foray into the international market.
The company, which has some 15 million subscribers to its DVD service in the U.S., more than 60 percent of whom also stream videos, says its all-you-can-eat service in Canada will be available on computers, on video game consoles, including the PlayStation3 and Wii, as well as most Web-connected Blu-ray players and televisions. Of course the service also will be immediately available on Apple products--the iPad and iPhone and, once it launches, the Apple TV--as well as on Xbox360 later this year.
Content, some 7,000 movie and TV episodes, will be available, although some of the newer titles that Netflix supplies U.S. subscribers by mail won't be available as part of the streaming-only subscription. Most titles will be available from 60 to 120 days after VOD and DVD rental sites release them.
The service will launch in English, although Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said a French-language site would be online within the next 12 months.
Netflix initially announced its service would be available north of the border in June, opening up a portal on which Canadain customers could sign up for advance news.
The pending arrival of Netflix in Canada set off a cascade of pricing cuts and content acquisitions by Canadian pay-TV providers as they readied for the launch of not only Netflix, but Apple and Boxee as well.
For more:
- check out the Netflix.ca website
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