On Friday Rogers Communications laid claim to be being the first cable operator in Canada to launch an app for streaming on demand video to LG Electronics’ smart TVs.
Rogers Anyplace TV will be available on 2012 and 2013 LG Smart TVs including OLED and Ultra HD. At launch, the app will host more than 1,000 hours of content.
To authenticate themselves, Rogers customers can log into the Rogers Anyplace TV application on their LG Smart TV by creating a profile on RogersAnyplaceTV.com. Rogers’ postpaid wireless, home phone and Internet customers can catch up on shows from City, Global and CBC. Rogers customers also have access to premium programming from the likes of AMC, Treehouse, W Network, Showcase, Slice, and HGTV.
“The Internet is the anchor in the home, and makes next generation entertainment experiences possible. The extension of Rogers Anyplace TV to LG Smart TVs demonstrates our ongoing commitment to transforming TV viewing for our customers,” said David Purdy, senior vice-president, content, Rogers Communications. “We are passionate about connecting our customers to more and more of the content they love, on the growing number of platforms they’re watching it on.”
TV Everywhere streams to smart TVs represent a growth area for cable operators. Currently Comcast supports streams on some Samsung smart TVs while Time Warner Cable announced two years ago that it was working on streaming video to Samsung’s smart TVs, but to date Time Warner Cable hasn’t announced a launch.
In 2011, Rogers rolled out its Rogers Live TV, an app that streamed live programming to a tablet from anywhere in the home. In December, Rogers launched a second screen app for its video services that allowed subscribers to use their mobile devices as a remote control, perform navigation and search, program their video recorders, and stream live video iPad, iPhone and some Android devices.