If you’re using the Canadian iTunes store or, more likely, using any non-U.S. iTunes store, you are painfully aware of the differences between what the U.S. gets and what you get. For music, for which I use the iTunes store sparingly, I would say the Canadian store is pretty good. For movies it’s not bad, as I mentioned in a previous post, the catalog seems about 60% of what the U.S. store has. I should mention at this point that movies in the Canuck store are typically $14.99 and $19.99 CDN, which given the current exchange rates makes the our iTunes store about 20-25% more expensive (plus we have 13% tax on that in Ontario). Movie rentals are $4.99 for SD and $5.99 for HD for new releases.
Now to the point, the selection of TV shows is paltry compared to the U.S. store. The following networks are available on the iTunes in Canada:
CBC
CTV
Comedy Network
Fashion Television
MGM
Military Channel
MTV
NHL
Nickelodeon
Spike
TLC
Treehouse
YTV
There are certainly some decent shows in this mix but some of the high runners such as Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Heroes, Dexter, etc. are not available. Canadians get these shows through our own networks or through cable and satellite so they are available via “regular” channels (no pun intended ). Now I’m sure this is all because of distribution deals and our equivalent to the FCC – the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunication Council (CRTC). I’m sure Apple would be more than happy to provide this content to the whole world but the archaic TV business models and the various bureaucracies are preventing distribution of “legitimate” content. You can be sure Canadians are getting these TV shows digitally by other means.
Along with pushing out the 2.2 update for the Apple TV, Apple has also revamped the web page promoting the Apple TV over at www.apple.com. Among the new information provided about the update to the Apple TV, Apple is claiming that the Apple TV has the largest selection of on-demand HD movies. I’m wondering if there is anyway to actually verify this claim? Also a little further down the page, Apple mentions that if the studio has made them available, subtitles, foreign language tracks, and director commentaries are accessible on Apple TV. This is the first I had heard of director commentaries being available.
It’s nice to see Apple still putting some effort toward it’s little hobby that could. For the full scoop and to check out the revamped Apple TV area head on over to www.apple.com/appletv.
Some of you who were around for the original run of the podcast may have known that you could find the Apple TV Junkie podcast in the Podcast section of the iTunes Store, but for the newer visitors, the revamped podcast is now available through iTunes. Click Here to head on over to the iTunes Store Podcast Section to subscribe in all it’s Apple TV HD glory.
Hi All, I am writing this post as I download an Apple TV update. The update is taking about 2 minutes and I will post as I know more. So head on over to your Apple TV’s and update that software. Hopefully this will be bringing our long awaited HD TV purchases.
Update – I’m reading over at MacRumors that there was also an iTunes Update to 8.0.1.
Update 2 – It looks like we got our HD TV purchases with tonight’s update along with some changes to the Settings menu. There are now options for AirTunes and Standby. Standby seems to put the Apple TV to sleep. Screen shots to come!
Update 3 – The Unofficial Apple Weblog is reporting that this was officially a Security Update. They are also reporting that this update brings the Genius feature to Apple TV. More features in this update include Music Video playlists and On-the-Go Playlists.
Update 4 – Here is a link to an Apple Support page with a description of all changes.
Apple Movie Junkie, formerly Apple TV Junkie, is the official blog of Cinemira. We provide a helpful service for users of the iTunes Movie Store and the Apple TV. AMJ was born out of a surprising shortcoming on the Apple TV after noticing that there was no easy way to find a list of all new HD & SD rental titles released on a daily basis. AMJ fills that niche with a daily list of new movies.
If you’re using the Canadian iTunes store or, more likely, using any non-U.S. iTunes store, you are painfully aware of the differences between what the U.S. gets and what you get. For music, for which I use the iTunes store sparingly, I would say the Canadian store is pretty good. For movies it’s not bad, as I mentioned in a previous post, the catalog seems about 60% of what the U.S. store has. I should mention at this point that movies in the Canuck store are typically $14.99 and $19.99 CDN, which given the current exchange rates makes the our iTunes store about 20-25% more expensive (plus we have 13% tax on that in Ontario). Movie rentals are $4.99 for SD and $5.99 for HD for new releases.
). Now I’m sure this is all because of distribution deals and our equivalent to the FCC – the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunication Council (CRTC). I’m sure Apple would be more than happy to provide this content to the whole world but the archaic TV business models and the various bureaucracies are preventing distribution of “legitimate” content. You can be sure Canadians are getting these TV shows digitally by other means.
Along with pushing out the 2.2 update for the Apple TV, Apple has also revamped the web page promoting the Apple TV over at 
Some of you who were around for the original run of the podcast may have known that you could find the 
Below is the list of new HD Rentals that have been added to Apple TV.
