Bell Video Store Makes Play for Canadian Internet Video Market

Telecom News Editorials Reports Glossary

Bell Video Store Makes Play for Canadian Internet Video Market

6:30 am on May 26, 2008 | Category: Web Services, Television

Bell Canada took a significant leap into the online movie business late last week, introducing its Bell Video Store service.

Bell Video Store makes 1,500 movie and TV titles immediately available to Canadian internet users, and is the first service to offer download-to-own movies the first day they become available in the country. It also offers download-to-rent movies shortly after nationwide retail availability.

Customers can purchase movies and TV shows starting at $4.99, or rent them for 30 days at a starting price of $1.99.

But Bell Video Store is already drawing criticism, however, due to the limitations it places on usage. Customers must install a special media player in order to view Bell’s videos, all of which contain digital rights management (DRM) software, preventing them from being played on Apple iPod devices, or computers running Macintosh OS or Linux operating systems.

“Although the news of more online download services is welcome news for Canadians, the Bell service is limited in both who can use the service and how videos can be played,” according to one contributor on Digital Home Canada’s web forum.

But even with these discouraging restrictions, Bell Video Store’s strong selection and wide reach are sure to attract customers. The store is already offering recent movies like Cloverfield, Into the Wild, and There Will Be Blood, as well as numerous classic TV shows, Bollywood movies, music concerts, and children’s entertainment favourites.