iTunes Canada and Vudu Now Offering TV Downloads

Filed by Dave Zatz under Media, TV Shows

Dec 13 2007

Canadians looking for alternative ways to consume their media are having a pretty good month… Though much later than their southern US neighbors, in the last three weeks TiVo, Xbox 360 movie downloads, and now iTunes television downloads have been made available. iTunes TV purchases run $1.99 CAD which closely mirrors the US dollar. (For comparison, not everyone is pleased with Microsoft’s Points exchange rate.)

In other digital TV news, dedicated video download STB Vudu ($399) is also offering show purchases for $1.99 USD. However, until they significantly drop that hardware fee they won’t have many takers.

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7 Responses for "iTunes Canada and Vudu Now Offering TV Downloads"

Glenn December 13th, 2007 at 6:24 pm 1
So, anybody want to suggest how I might hack iTunes so I can (pay for and) download Canadian TV shows? Or even just see what is available?

please please let Canadian Idol be one of those shows…
Dave Zatz December 13th, 2007 at 6:29 pm 2
I assume it’s based on the originating IP address location and billing address. As to offerings, here’s what Apple’s posted:

CBC’s comedy programs “Little Mosque on the Prairie??? and “The Rick Mercer Report,??? reality programming “No Opportunity Wasted??? and “Dragon’s Den;??? • CTV’s smash hit comedy “Corner Gas,??? dramas “Instant Star,??? “Degrassi: The Next Generation??? and “Robson Arms;??? • Comedy Central’s “Drawn Together,??? “The Sarah Silverman Program??? and Emmy and Peabody Award-winning “South Park;??? • MTV Networks programs “Avatar: The Last Airbender??? and “The Hills;??? and • NHL Games of the Year, including top NHL games in their entirety for the 2007-2008 season, as well as Stanley Cup Classics, a five-game bundle of great Stanley Cup Final games.

Interesting to see Drawn Together up there. Perhaps they’ll have enough downloads (US & Canada) to run another season.
pummax December 15th, 2007 at 12:21 am 3
the discussion about who would be policing the canadian content produciton is valid:
http://mannys.wordpress.com/2007/12/14/are-our-canadian-networks-moving-south-or-just-our-content/
xdreamwalker December 20th, 2007 at 11:35 am 4
I just placed my order for a VUDU the other day. I was accepted in the VUDU Evangelist Program and figured $99 with $99 in VUDU credit was worth it to try it out.
Now I’ll just have to make space for it…
Dave Zatz December 20th, 2007 at 6:26 pm 5
I’m on the road this week, but Melissa just told me a Vudu review unit arrived. Looking forward to checking it out. Though $400 still seems pretty steep – the $99 deal xdreamwalker got seems much more reasonable for the service. FYI There’s a promotion going on where you get a free Vudu with select Sharp HDTV purchases.
bass January 6th, 2008 at 1:43 am 6
Does anyone know if you can get VUDU to work in Canada
Craig Brown January 9th, 2008 at 11:02 pm 7
Bought a vudu & tried it in Calgary with my isdn…did NOT work.