CALGARY and LAS VEGAS – Shaw Communications has announced the launch of FreeRange TV, a new service which provides its 2.6 million subscribers access to live broadcasts of their favourite programming in one app, whenever and wherever they want to watch. It’s a free service for Shaw customers.
All Shaw Cable and Shaw Direct customers can download the FreeRange TV app at no additional cost for iOS (8.0 and up) and Android (4.0.3 and up) devices. Subscribers can choose from over 80 live channels, 30,000 on-demand titles, and an all-in-one content integration that combines both cable subscription and streaming services. The app’s download-to-go feature allows each Shaw customer the ability to authorize up to five devices to download up to 10 titles a piece.
(Pictured is Shaw Communications EVP and COO Jay Mehr demonstrating the service at the company's launch event at CES.)
Once downloaded, Shaw customers can login to the FreeRange TV app by using their Shaw.ca email address, or account number and password. Additional content and features will be announced in the coming months.
With more than 50% of consumers reporting (Ericsson Consumer Insight Report, Sept. 2015) they now view streamed on-demand video at least once a day, Shaw realized it had to make it as easy as possible for viewers to take their content with them anywhere, like they can with over-the-top providers.
The Ericsson report also notes the number of hours people spend watching streamed TV series, programs and movies on-demand is now six hours per week, more than double what it was in 2011. The most recent annual Canadian Media Usage Trends report from Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada and PHD Canada estimates that Canadians now watch video on mobile devices for approximately 500 minutes per week, on average.
This trend has resulted in a growing number of media companies around world turning to cloud strategies such as FreeRange TV which enable them to offer digital distribution over the Internet to a widening array of connected 
devices. Now instead of investing millions to set up a new channel, media companies can move operations to the cloud for a fraction of the cost and in far less time, Shaw. The cloud also enables them to easily support the multitude formats including smartphones, tablets, PCs, set-top boxes and gaming consoles.
“FreeRange TV uses Comcast’s world-class X1 platform – the latest in cloud-based and mobile video technology – and represents the first step in the evolution of Shaw’s new television product roadmap,” said Brad Shaw, CEO, in a press release. Shaw said they chose the Comcast platform because it offered subscribers access to all their content in one place “without requiring you to switch between apps or services.”
“The quality of the in-app experience and the flexibility it provides users to watch content on or offline, in and out of the home, puts it far ahead of anything else out there,” added Shaw. “By enhancing functionality, expanding the quality of content offered, and by making navigation intuitive and easy, FreeRange TV addresses the challenges many TV apps have typically faced.”
Its features include:
- Over 80 live TV channels: The ability to stream live TV channels and content in one app.
- Up to 30,000 on-demand titles: All available to watch through the FreeRange TV app.
- Over 1,500 download-to-go kids’ titles: Available to download directly to their device for viewing offline, with more download-to-go content planned for the future.
- Sports on-the-go: FreeRange TV offers Sportsnet and TSN content in one app for all Shaw TV customers.
- All-in-one content aggregation: An interface that combines customer TV subscriptions into one app, meaning customers can find and watch the TV shows and movies they want without needing to remember what network, channel number or platform is carrying them.
[Editor’s note: The FreeRange TV app was quietly launched on the iTunes store on December 16, 2015 and has earned a top five-star rating among 44 users. We expect more announcements to come from Comcast and Cisco at CES regarding their cloud technologies for broadcasters, so stay tuned. Cartt.ca was at the launch event in Las Vegas this afternoon and talked to company executives. We will have more on this story.]
