Shomi shutting down two years after launching service

Video streaming service TORONTO Shomi announced Monday it will shut down at the end of November, two years after it launched.

“The business climate and online video marketplace have changed markedly in the last few years,” David Asch, senior vice-president and general manager for Shomi, said in a statement. “Combined with the fact that the business is more challenging to operate than we expected, we’ve decided to wind down our operations.”

Asch said the company remains proud of the service it launched and the role it played in the evolving video landscape in Canada.

Shomi was launched by Rogers and Shaw in November 2014 in an effort to grab the attention of a growing number of so-called cord-cutters who were ditching traditional TV services in favour of watching TV and movies online. It was trying to compete with the likes of Netflix, with more than 12,000 hours of streamable con- tent and featuring a roster of shows such as Sons of Anarchy, American Horror Story and Vikings.

Shomi came under some criticism because the service, which cost $8.99 a month after a free trial, was initially only offered to Internet or cable customers of Shaw and Rogers. It was later opened up to everyone. A new threat arose a month after Shomi’s launch with the arrival of Bell’s CraveTV.

“We tried something new, and customers who used Shomi loved it,” Melani Griffith, senior vicepresident of content at Rogers, said in another statement.

“It’s like a great cult favourite with a fantastic core audience that unfortunately just isn’t big enough to be renewed for another season.”

Rogers said it expects to incur a loss on investment of approximately $100 million to $140 million in its third quarter, which ends Friday.