E Ontario Now

Ottawa – Apple reports that iTunes Canada adds U.S. shows to its iTunes store in Canada to supplement the existing Canadian television fare.

American shows include NBC’s Heroes and 30 Rock, ABC’s Lost, and Fox’s 24, which are avaliable for $2.49, or $3.49 for high-definition, for a single episode. Full season shows cost $49.99, and $69.99 for high-definition. Cable networks like A&E, The History Channel and TLC are also adding shows for iTunes Canada users.

The video downloads will also ply on PCs and Mac computers; on iPod, iPhone and on televisions equipped with teh Apple set-top converter box.

Apple spokesperson Simon Atkins said that the Canadian iTunes store began adding television content in December 2007 but that sales lagged behind the U.S. iTunes store, which carried hit prime-time shows from the major U.S. broadcast networks. The Canadian networks included CBC, CTV, MTV, the Comedy Network, YTV, the Fashion Television Channel, Teletoon and Treehouse.

Cable and televisions networks are competing with Apple by offering on-demand video of their own. Rogers Communications, for example, announced earlier this year that it is opening up its own video portal.

Major American and Canadian networks like ABC and CTV are teaming up with online companies like Hulu and YouTube to stream full episodes of their series.

Apple also has a number of Canadian competitors in the video market. Bell Canada opened its own Bell Video store in May, and Microsoft in 2007 offered movie rentals on Xbox Live, the online hookup for its video game console.