Rogers has partnered with Netflix on a six-part original series called Between that both media companies will air on their respective digital streaming services.
The first season will premiere on City and Shomi (the subscription video-on-demand service owned by Rogers and Shaw) and on Netflix outside of Canada where the service is available. It will debut on Canadian Netflix one year later.
For months, Rogers had been developing the series for City, said Navaid Mansuri, interim senior vice-president, broadcast at Rogers Media. When producers began hunting for an international partner – to “complete the financing,” – they met with “a number of interested parties, but Netflix won out in the end,” said Mansuri. Shomi then came on as a third partner, he said.
Netflix representatives said the company began talks several months ago with Don Carmody Productions, one of three production companies working on the series, when it realized Rogers was also interested in the series.
“From there, we collaborated with Rogers to assemble a co-production that worked for both parties and to bring in great talent that would help realize the artistic vision of the show,” said Erik Barmack, vice-president of global independent content at Netflix.
Between was created by Canadian writer/director Michael McGowan (Still Mine, One Week, Saint Ralph) and will star Jennette McCurdy (iCarly, Sam & Cat). Filming begins this fall in Toronto.
The story, in which a disease wipes out a whole town except those 21 and under, is likely to appeal to younger viewers — possibly a sign that Rogers is courting a young demographic for Shomi.
The wait to bring it to Canadian Netflix could attract young Canadian viewers to Shomi to see it — if the series is one to watch. The flip-side is that eager viewers will be able to view it on American Netflix, since 1/3 of Canadians currently have access to the U.S. version of the streaming network.
Shomi is set to launch in the first week of November at a subscription price of $8.99 per month, the same price as Netflix (which announced a price increase this year). Shomi will offer 340 TV series and 1,200 movies, with 30% Canadian content.
By comparison, Netflix Canada offers about 4,000 titles, though popular American fare such as Sons of Anarchy isn’t available on the Canadian service. It is however, offered on the U.S. service and also on Shomi. Such content has pushed many Canadians to obtain American Netflix, which is easy and cheap to do, though it might be a legal grey area.
Another issue at play is likely the political push to include more Cancon on Canadian Netflix — which currently has deals with the CBC and National Film Board, said Barmack, and recently announced two new seasons of The Trailer Park Boys.
“We are not in favour of more regulation – for services like Netflix or Shomi. However, should the CRTC impose [new Cancon] requirements on unregulated SVOD [subscription video on demand] services, we believe they should apply equally to foreign and Canadian services and not just Canadian services that are affiliated with licensed services like City as the CRTC has proposed,” said Mansuri. “This would undermine Canadian innovation and investment and give foreign services like Netflix an even greater competitive advantage over Canadian media companies.”
