News

Rogers Plans ‘Canadian Hulu’

The CBC reports that Rogers told the CRTC New Media hearing today that it plans to launch a new online video platform.  The site is being characterized as a Canadian version of Hulu.com.  More on the day's hearings soon.

13 Comments

  1. Brian Moffatt says:

    Hulu
    And so let’s see…Hulu runs content from Fox and NBC, who partnered up on hulu, running ‘content’ they own. If you live in the States, you can access hulu no matter which ISP you use.

    Rogers doesn’t own content. Yet. Though they could whitelist programming they have a heavy hand in approving through the Canadian Media Fund. Executive producers of all Canadian content given priority on their ad revenue based distribution platform (the internet) with government and regulatory blessing…

    …what tidy little gsmbits, being played variously on different boards. Do Canadians take comfort in monopolies and near monopolies? Idea shaping and traffic shaping all in one convenient one-way package.

    By the time the net neutrality hearings (before yet another separate and distinct commission hearing) roll round Canadians may have only a vague memory of what the internet was, and what the world wide web was meant to be.

    Once again, here we are, confusing ourselves to death.

  2. anti-competitive?
    Rogers is going to be treading a very fine line with all their throttling if they start delivering their own sanctioned content unfettered.

  3. Will it be free?
    Sound like Rogers will require you to subscribe to their cable in order to get hulu like service. Will it be free or will they try to triple dip: Cable fees, “hulu” fees, and bandwidth fees (since bandwidth is limited it does have a cost). Rogers mentioned that you could use another ISP but everyone knows that will be impractical due to bundling discounts.

    Bend over Canada, Rogers’ got you back again.

  4. Vincent Clement says:

    Yet Another Waste of Resources
    Or the US networks can rewrite their contracts with Canadian networks so that Hulu is open to Canadians.

  5. just 4 laughs says:

    Telecom’s new Joke a day theme
    So rogers is saying:
    1. Throttling and taking peoples money in this manner is lawful
    2. Paying an internet levy is unlawful
    3. If we provide free content of our choosing over the same throttled cable its lawful

    Per the Montreal Gazette:
    http://www.montrealgazette.com/Technology/Internet+levy+unlawful+Rogers/1377290/story.html

    “Rogers said it would offer the service free of charge to its cable subscribers. That means customers would not be able to cancel their cable subscriptions and watch their favourite programs free online.”

    What a joke.

  6. Accessing hulu in Canada
    Rather than allowing Rogers to gain an even greater grip on the telecoms industry, you can work around the US geographic requirements and access Hulu from anywhere in the world by downloading hotspot shield. Just google “hotspot shield”, download it, run it, and then watch what you like through hulu, pandora, or anything else that requires you to be in the US.

  7. head shake says:

    hmmm don’t think so, SH, but I could be wrong.
    @sh
    This will change very fast. You “hulu” would be throttled. Your proxy would be throttled. Anything non-Canadian would be “de-prioritized” if I read the Geist article here correctly:
    http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/3737/125/

    They are talking about fast lanes and slow lanes now.

    You content will be too choppy to watch, too slowed down. But I guess you can download it (if that option is available) at 15kB/s on your 1200kB/s high speed internet.

    It just keeps getting better.

    This is really like a Just for Laughs TV show being played out here, except its reality. 😐

  8. Here we go again…
    Just another way for BellRogers to further their grip on the Canadian consumer.

  9. Dwight Williams says:

    To say that I’m displeased with this idea is putting it mildly.

  10. content creator says:

    ad supported junk.
    Rogers can afford to host massive servers to accommodate the bandwidth needs of a “hulu” clone, but continues to argue traffic management of upstream traffic is necessary?

    Rogers customers have just been digitally slapped in the face. Again.

  11. EPIC FAIL
    i already got 3 tb off the net i no longer need htem
    nor anything else ……

  12. Unblocking Hulu in Canada
    There is a new CDN service out there called Canulu.com

    Works for me. Was watching Hulu last night with it for 4 hours, and only once did I have to pause a video to let it buffer for a few seconds. Sweet.

  13. Just get another ISP
    Stop using Rogers and switch to alternative providers.
    I hope the new cell phone entrants offer Internet service (with no CanCon restrictions).

    Shabaaz