TELUS Debuts Netflix via Cable Box

[jon]

February 11, 2015
Netflix Now Accessible Directly Through TELUS Optik TV

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Feb 11, 2015 (Marketwired via COMTEX) -- (T)TU, +0.56% - TELUS today announced that Optik TV customers will be able to access Netflix, the world's largest subscription streaming service, directly from their Optik TV set-top box, removing the inconvenience of having to switch hardware and source inputs or fumble with additional remotes. Access to Netflix will be made available to Optik TV customers over the coming weeks. Every Optik TV customer with a Netflix account can conveniently enjoy their favourite movies and shows including Netflix original programming like House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and Marco Polo, from any Optik TV in the home.

"The addition of Netflix is yet another demonstration of TELUS' commitment to making our customers' entertainment experience better and simpler," said Blair Miller, Vice-President, Content at TELUS. "Nearly half of TELUS' Optik TV customers are also Netflix subscribers, and making Netflix accessible to them via their Optik set-top box is a simple but powerful innovation providing access to all their home entertainment in one place. The way we consume television programming continues to evolve - this latest Optik innovation is a reflection of that evolution and TELUS' dedication to finding new ways to provide our customers with greater choice and control of their entertainment experience so they can watch the programs they want, when they want."

When combined with CraveTV as well as TELUS' extensive selection of current TV hits and the latest Hollywood blockbusters available on demand, the addition of Netflix means Optik TV is the one destination where customers always have something great to watch, including thousands of hours of their most loved movies and TV shows.

To learn more about Netflix for Optik TV, visit telus.com/Netflix.

[jon]

Investment Analysts have been talking up TELUS in the last few weeks, so it is more than ironic that TELUS announces this ("good news") on the same day that Shaw announces ("bad news") the closing of some of their Call Centres.

As I said when shomi was announced (by Rogers and Shaw), the key to this for me is the use of the cable company's internal network, rather than the public Internet. The TELUS announcement is a clever way to trump Rogers and Shaw.

If I read the CRTC right, I think they will be going after the providers to unbundle these offerings, so that I will, for example, be able to phone TELUS and say "I don't want your cable TV service, but I do want to get Netflix via your cable TV box".

[Russ_Byth]

I switched from Shaw to Telus a couple of weeks ago and the lower price notwithstanding, there are many more options features and basic channels.
In the Okanagan, CITY Vancouver wasn't offered at all by Shaw while CTV Van was in SD.
I also now get the two Victoria channels and KVOS, which were not a part of Shaw.
And I'm sure ol Blue Eyes has rolled over a few times thanks to the Optik TV Karaoke app.

[kal]

Do find the actual channel switching to be faster with Optik than with cable? I don't have Optik myself but I've tested it in a few homes and am impressed with the dramatically faster channel changing. Certainly Optik is miles ahead of where it was five years ago ... the Telus service was really poor back then.

And as you point out there are key channels still only in SD on the Shaw service: CTV Newsnet, CBC Newsworld to name a couple.

[Russ_Byth]

Channel switching? Can't say, as it wasn't high on my list (or even on it) of reasons to change.
CBCNW had recently been added to the HD channels.

[jon]

My experience with Shaw is that Channel Switching speed is a characteristic of the Cable Box, not the network technology.

Both my own experience and that of friends is that we have seen radical improvements in both Menu display and Channel Switching speed every time we have got a new Cable Box from Shaw over the last 20 years.

And it makes sense. Every time we got a new Cable Box, it was at least 5 years newer. And you know how much slower a 5 year old computer is than today's.

[kal]

I have the newest Shaw box (finally get those MPEG-4 encoded channels) and it made no positive difference in the channel switching. In fact I'd judge it to be slightly worse.

BTW, I mistakenly said earlier that CBC Newsworld (Shaw 26) was still SD. I see that it is now HD. Not sure when that upgrade occurred.