Behind-the-scenes deal-making among Canadian SVODS for exclusive content rights heated up significantly on Wednesday, when shomi rolled out a content distribution agreement with The Walt Disney Studios and Disney ABC Television Group.

Shomi unveiled a licensing deal that gives it streaming rights to classic Disney family titles like 102 Dalmatians, The Parent Trap and Race to Witch Mountain, and movies such as Gone in Sixty Seconds, Ladder 49, Pearl Harbor and The Waterboy.

As the fight to keep rights away from Netflix Canada intensifies, shomi has also become the exclusive Canadian SVOD home for hot ABC series Scandal and Revenge.

The Canadian SVOD grabbed the rights to ABC Family thriller Twisted, and to catch-up viewing for Alias, Boy Meets World, Bunheads and The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

The Walt Disney Studios previously signed a separate multi-year licensing agreement with Netflix Canada, making it the exclusive pay-TV home for its movies.

Starting with upcoming films to be released theatrically in 2015, Netflix Canada will carry first-run features from Disney Live Action, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, Disneynature and DreamWorks Studios.

Shomi from Rogers Media and Shaw Media launched earlier this month in beta. The upstart SVOD unveiled earlier content deals with Warner Bros., Starz Digital Media and BBC Worldwide.

Rival Bell Media plans to shortly launch its own SVOD to compete against Netflix Canada, code-named Project Latte.

From Playback