Shomi, a Rogers Communications/Shaw Communications joint venture, was formally announced by the two companies in an August 26, 2014 media release. The subscription video-on-demand service is currently in beta launch for Rogers and Shaw Internet/television customers on tablet, mobile, and online platforms, as well as Xbox 360 and set top boxes. It is Rogers’ and Shaw’s first major attempt to compete with Netflix, and costs $8.99 CDN a month; it is currently not available as a standalone product. Shomi is available starting November 2014.

The service initially offers 340 television series, 11,000 hours of television content, and 1200 films at launch, for a total of 14,000 “episodes and titles” (Shomi’s terminology). No original content is initially planned for the service, as Shomi currently focuses on library content and “first-window exclusives” of shows Shaw Media and Rogers Media currently control digital distribution rights to. Shomi is officially in beta for six months to a year.

Shomi uses the You.i engine from You.i Labs. You.i Labs was founded in 2008, and is based in Ottawa, Ontario.

Bell Canada Enterprises and Cineplex Odeon Corporation are not on board with the Shomi venture, as was originally planned. According to Greg O’Brien of CARTT.ca, Bell plans its own subscription video-on-demand service for January 2015 due to it not liking the content rights terms Rogers signed for Shomi; Cineplex left the Shomi venture due to the service only being available as an add-on for existing Internet/television customers.

Rogers Media president Keith Pelley mentioned at the Shomi media event that “quite a few titles” might come from CBC; CBC is not officially onboard with Shomi.

The Shomi joint venture launches as a standalone entity, with its own management structure.