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Having launched the company just under two years ago, the collaboration between Shaw and Rogers successfully came up with a new startup; a Canadian-made video streaming service called Shomi. Sadly, this online video service announced to the public, starting on November 30th, 2016, they will be retiring their services and will no longer be made available to users.
Notably, Netflix has been “investing more heavily in original productions” while Crave TV “focused more on television, including a library of content from HBO.” According to the Globe and Mail, Shomi’s point of difference was to bet “on movies and collections curated by humans rather than algorithms.
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This gave Shomi the opportunity to create a value proposition that would help differentiate themselves from other leading competitors.
Over the past few years, many active Netflix users have complained how Netflix in Canada does not contain content that is nearly as entertaining as what is offered to those in the United States. Netflix Canada is made up of out dated TV shows and movies. Shomi on the other hand took this opportunity to listen to their customers. Most recently, Shomi hosted highly rated TV shows such as “The Americans,” “Transparent” and “Mr. Robot.”
In my opinion, Shomi did not have potential to expand and grow in the industry as a Canadian video streaming company. However, I do agree that Shomi gave up too early; having only operated for less than two years. But on the other hand, I did not see the company thriving due to the highly competitive market.
Kaija Zeilstra wrote a blog in regards to Shomi when it was first made available. She argued how Shomi had “shr[ank] [their] customer segment… in contrast to Netflix.” This is a perfect example of how the company has grown since the early stages of entering the market but not advancing in the industry. Shomi was first made available to Shaw and Rogers customers as part of their cable package. However, even though Shomi later expanded to non-subscribers, a bulk of their customers used Shomi because this service was made available through their cable package – fully taking advantage of the resources provided, and not just because users enjoy Shomi over streaming giant Netflix.
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https://blogs.ubc.ca/kaijanz/2014/11/05/shomi-the-new-netflix/
http://www.marketingmag.ca/brands/marketer-of-the-year-2015-shomi-167243
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/09/26/shomi-shut-down_n_12202070.html
https://www.thestar.com/business/2016/09/26/shomi-is-shutting-down.html