Rogers is swiftly making significant updates to its On Demand Online video portal, coincidentally just in time before Netflix arrives in Canada some time this Fall. The latest initiative includes video rentals, which will be added to the Website next month.

The way Rogers On Demand Online currently works is that subscribers of any Rogers service, whether cable, Internet, home phone, and/or wireless phone, can become a member via an authenticated account. The account can be authenticated a number of ways; for example, using your cellular phone number, account number, or even auto-authenticating from home if you're an Internet customer. Customers who already subscriber to Rogers cable TV service will be given access to premium content that they already subscribe to, should it be available online. Any user in Canada can also access Web-exclusive content on the site, like Web shows from Vuguru, and classic TV shows and movies from the just-added Sony Pictures Crackle channel.

"The ways customers watch movies, television and videos is changing," declares John Boynton, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President, Rogers Communications.

But the idea behind RODO is not so much to replace traditional cable TV services, but to complement them. According to a recent Rogers survey (conducted by Angus Reid), 81% of Canadians want to be able to access entertainment programming across multiple screens, and on their own timelines.

The new rental service adds another dimension. Much like with Netflix, which is a major force in online and mail-in movie rentals in the U.S., the rental service will allow customers to download new movie releases on the same day they become available on video. New movies, like Sex and the City 2 and The Girl Who Played With Fire, will cost $4.99 to rent; while library titles will run for $3.99. Payment can be made via Visa, MasterCard, or American Express. Each movie rental is good for 30 days, but once it begins playing, the customer has 48-hours in which to view it as many times as he likes. As with traditional on-demand content, the movie can be paused, fast forward, and rewound.
The service is currently in private beta, but will be available to consumers by mid-October. At launch, there will be more than 400 titles available.

Rogers says 10% of its cable customer base is signed on for RODO, representing a quarter-million members.

In addition to powerhouse Netflix, RODO will also be competing with Canadian DVD mail-in service Zip.ca. The company announced plans to launch its own online streaming video service last year, and confirmed with Marketnews that that service will be coming to fruition before the end of this year. And of course there's also iTunes and Apple TV, which remain a fierce competitor in this space as well.

Article Tags:  service, rogers, online, movie, available, cable, video, customer, account, customers, access, content, netflix, phone, rental, movies, demand, launch, traditional, titles, authenticated, rentals, canada, added, currently, internet, shows,