March 7, 2007
iTunes: Are Movies and TV Shows Coming to Canada Soon?
March 7, 2007, 10:07 AM | 16 Comments
Apple’s recent foray into the home theatre market segment has got me interested. The Apple TV (or iTV as it was formerly known) is an intriguing product that I think has a lot of potential… at least in the United States. What I’m wondering about though is when (if ever) Apple will make that same TV and movie content that’s available to the US iTunes store available here in Canada.
While it’s not heavily featured on Apple’s Canadian website at the time of this writing, Apple TV still is being advertised and sold north of the border. Obviously it’s not being delivered yet – Apple has already pushed back the ship-date and the reasons have been heavily debated and discussed. Hopefully though, the fact that Apple is still choosing to market this product in several areas where the iTunes store doesn’t carry the very content the Apple TV is meant for means that they are well on their way to actually releasing some good content here in Canada.
Over the past couple of months, I’ve done more than a few searches trying to find some information about whether or not Apple plans to bring this content to the Canadian iTunes store and haven’t really come up with anything definite. On Monday though, Apple released an update to its iTunes software that may contain the biggest hint yet. If you take a look at the parental controls preferences in iTunes 7.1 you’ll see that there is now a drop-down box that allows you to select a rating system to use for movies and TV shows based on a select group of countries (Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States).
As far as I know, the only country where you can actually purchase movies and TV shows from the iTunes store is in the United States. So, is this a hint of what’s to come? Or is it just Apple being thorough?
Here’s what I think: I think that Canadians (as well as Australians, the Irish, New Zealanders and Britains) are going to get the same type of content that’s available to US customers. TV shows, movies – I think they’re both on the way.
If you’ve read carefully up to this point, you’ll notice that I emphasized the word ‘type’ when I said “Canadians are going to get the same type of content that’s available to US customers.” Why? Read on…
Back in October of 2005, Apple released their long-awaited 5th generation iPods with video-playback capabilities. Along with that release, Apple also announced that they’d be releasing all episodes of 5 popular ABC TV shows for download from the iTunes store. It was great news… for US citizens anyways. Meanwhile, here us Canadians are, patiently waiting almost a year and a half later and we still don’t even have those 5 shows from ABC available on our iTunes store, let alone the 250 different TV series that are now available to customers in the US.
I believe the main reason for this delay is, as always, the CRTC (Canada’s Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the governing body that polices the airwaves). If you’re not familiar with the CRTC, it’s basically Canada’s version of the FCC. Now, I don’t claim to know all about the inner-workings of the CRTC, but I’m pretty sure that all their policies have to fall under one master-policy that sums up any initiative that the CRTC has in place now, and will put into place in the future. I firmly believe that that policy goes something this: “We, the CRTC, hate people.” If you are Canadian, you know exactly what I mean.
Seriously though, from what I’ve read, the problem (or delay if you will) with making this content available to Canadian customers through the iTunes store is that our process here in Canada is a lot different that in the United States. In Canada, our TV networks purchase distribution rights for any US-produced/distributed (or any other country for that matter) television show or event, essentially inserting another cook in the kitchen. So what does all that mean? Well, I think it means that Apple would not only have to negotiate contracts with the original producer/distributor of the show, but they’d also have to negotiate a contract with the Canadian distributor of said TV show.
For example, in Canada, Global Television owns the distribution rights for my favourite show, 24. 24 is produced and distributed by FOX in the US and, as I understand it, Global had to negotiate their distribution rights with FOX. For the iTunes store in the United States, all Apple has to do is enter a contract with FOX to distribute their show. In Canada though, Apple would have to negotiate with FOX and again with Global to get that same show into its Canadian iTunes store. So, whose fault is it… Apple’s? I doubt it. Is it the network’s fault for being too stringy with their rights? Possibly, but I think it’s more likely that there an issue higher up, and that’s where the CRTC comes in.
As far as the movies go, I’m not too sure what the hold-up is, but it could be sort of the same idea. I’m pretty sure there are Canadian distribution companies that buy the rights from the major US studios. Having said that, it seems to me like the movies would be a much easier bridge to cross, so why don’t we have movies yet?
Unfortunately, from what I can find, there haven’t been any public statements as to why it’s taking so long for iTunes to get TV shows and movies here in Canada, and I think that’s sad. Canadians want to be able to purchase this content but we don’t know who to write to, complain to, or email to get the ball rolling a little faster.
That’s why it strikes me as odd that Apple has released the Apple TV in Canada and other markets that don’t yet have movies and TV shows available in those countries. Without that content, the Apple TV is essentially useless unless you really, really, REALLY enjoy watching endless amounts of music videos, movie trailers and video podcasts.
What that says to me, along with the latest iTunes updates, is that eventually Apple plans to have movies and TV shows available in Canada. What content and when remains to be seen, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s made available in the next 2 months. I also wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t made available in the next 2 months, but I’d definitely be disappointed. For all I know, part of the delay in shipping Apple TV could be caused by slower than expected contract negotiations for the TV and movie content in other countries.
In summary, here’s where I stand on the Apple TV – I think it’s a great product with a lot of potential. I already have an HDTV (and the hefty cable package that comes along with it) and would love to add an Apple TV to my setup. Having said that, there’s no way I’ll purchase one in hope that Apple will release the content I’m looking for (movies, and TV shows from at least the Major US networks).
Once my ‘demands’ are met, I’ll be one of the first in line (figuratively speaking of course) to drop my hard earned cash on a brand new Apple TV. Let’s face it, $349 (Canadian of course) for the functionality that it offers is a small price to pay and may be the cheapest piece of hardware you add to your home theatre setup.
So listen up Apple Canada: once you’ve got the content, you’ve got an Apple TV customer in me. I suspect many Canadians feel the same way.
Update: AppleInsider has some insight into the reasons behind the delays that have plagued the Apple TV, none of which are related to international contract negotiations. Oh well, one can dream.
Update: (Aug 8, 2007) Apparently the UK iTunes store is about to gain access to Movies and TV Shows… could Canada really be that far behind? Probably.
Update: (Dec 15, 2007) Last week Apple finally added TV shows to the Canadian iTunes store. There’s not much content in there yet and most of what’s there are shows from CTV and CBC that I have no iterest in. No movies yet either, but some progress is better than no progress at all.
Technorati Tags: Apple, Apply TV, iTunes, CRTC, Canada.
Posted in: Apple, Technology