CTV GO users who own Google’s Chromecast can now watch CTV’s live and on-demand content on a TV screen.

Google and Bell Media say the agreement marks the first time a Canadian network broadcaster has made a TV Everywhere product available through Google’s technology. Chromecast is a $39 USB device that users plug into their TV to turn it into an app-based smart TV.

By using a “cast” button in the app, users can put any content they’re watching on an Android or iOS mobile device and on Mac or Windows laptop – be it online video or music – onto an HDMI TV.  CTV GO joins content providers like Netflix, Songza, Google Play and Red Bull TV that are already available to “cast” through the platform. That follows CTV Go adding the ability to stream content via Apple’s Airplay technology. 

The ad-supported CTV GO app’s on-demand content is available to anyone for seven days following a live broadcast. Older archived content and the live streaming option are available only to users with a cable or internet subscription.

Domenic Vivolo, executive VP, content sales and distribution marketing, Bell Media, says making CTV GO content available via Chromecast is about providing households another opportunity to watch content on a big screen on a big screen, even if additional TVs in the household don’t have set-top boxes. He also says it is a way to keep CTV content available to more tech-savvy consumers.

“It would be detrimental to our brand if we didn’t allow people to start using new technologies to consume video,” Vivolo says. “This is a continuation of our road map to make sure all of the platforms are being capitalized.”

Research has shown TV Everywhere products like CTV GO are effective at retaining customers. A recent study by Charlton Strategic Research, presented in November at the CTAM Canada’s 2014 Broadcaster Forum, found eight in 10 Canadians agreeing that TV Everywhere is influential in retention of their paid TV services.

– From Media in Canada