Shomi Gets More Game

Shomi, the multiscreen SVOD service from Canadian operators Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications, has expanded access to the Sony PlayStation 4.

The service, which launched across Canada  last August, is also offered on Web browsers, Android and iOS smartphones and tablets, Rogers and Shaw set-top boxes, Apple TV (via AirPlay), the Xbox 360, and has been optimized for the Google Chromecast streaming adapter. The shomi site notes that the service is “coming soon” to the Xbox One.

“Members have been asking for shomi on the PS4 system since we launched, and I’m thrilled we are now able to provide our service on this platform,”  Ann Tebo, shomi’s director, product management, said in a  statement. “With the addition of the PS4 system there are now four Internet-connected ways for members to get great shomi content on their TV screen.”

Update: You.i TV of Ottawa said shomi's deployment on the PS4 is the first app from the vendor to launch on a game console, and that it uses the same codebase that powers shomi's apps for iOS and Android devices. 

Shomi, which is tangling with Netflix in Canada, costs $8.99 per month, though new shomi customers are in line for a two-month free trial. Rogers introduced a major 4K initiative last year that will offer movies and TV shows on shomi in the pixel-packed format.

Nearly half (45%) of all TV viewers in Canada now use an OTT service such as Netflix, shomi, Crave TV or Club Illico, according to a new survey from Media Technology Monitor.