A 4th of July message to Heartland’s US Fans First, I would like to wish all Americans a very happy Independence Day. Canada is still on a high, having just celebrated our 150th year of being a country and now although not a milestone, your 241st is a great cause for celebration in your nation, and I hope you all have a wonderful day. I say “you all” instead of “all Americans” because this is a special post that is only visible to those living in the United States. It’s not that I’m keeping secrets from the rest of the world, and certainly not from Canada; it’s just that I don’t want this information confusing anyone, so this is my July 4th blog just for you. I wish to start by clearing up a misconception about Netflix. So many of you have enjoyed seasons 8 and 9 this year on the streaming service and figure that it is natural that season 10 should get added right away. That is not going to happen. No date has been set yet for season 10 to be added to Netflix in the United States, but it will not happen before 2018. Here’s why… Netflix has many original series, such as “Orange is the New Black” and “House of Cards,” and those series premiere on their service. They have produced them and therefore they show them first. However, for many series, such as “Heartland,” Netflix is a secondary broadcaster; Netflix only get to stream series like Heartland after the series have aired on primary broadcasters in any country where Netflix operates. And if you do not know this – Netflix has a different catalogue in every country where it operates. For example in Canada the national broadcaster known as the CBC is the primary broadcaster of Heartland. Since season 10 has aired on CBC in Canada Netflix will be adding this most recent season to its Canadian catalogue very shortly. But that is Canada. In your country it is different. It took over two full years to find a primary broadcaster for Heartland in the United States. I often get comments asking why Heartland doesn’t air on (NBC, Hallmark, ABC Family… etc.). In order for a movie or a series or any program from another country to air on a US network or station the network or station has to want to broadcast it. If there was a main national network that wanted to show Heartland it would be very simple. They would be the sole primary broadcaster. However, because none of your major networks were interested, the people responsible for selling Heartland in your country – and the CBC in Canada has nothing to do with this – have had to look elsewhere. And so… Here is the list of primary broadcasters who are playing or will play season 10 of Heartland this year in your country – UP, LeSEA, Family, RETRO, and the Heartland Network (the Heartland Network is not connected to the series; it has been around for a long time. It is a coincidence that they play the Heartland series and share the Heartland name). Some of you may have been watching season 9 on the CW Plus network of stations. The CW Plus has elected to not renew Heartland so their stations are no longer an option for you to watch season 10. However, in locations where the CW Plus broadcasts other independent stations may decide to broadcast season 10. At this time I do not have a list of those stations. UP, who used to be called UPtv, has been currently airing season 10 on Sunday evenings. Once they have finished the season they will be repeating it and then will eventually add it to their streaming subscription service, which is called UP Faith & Family. The other primary broadcasters – LeSea, Family, RETRO and the Heartland Network have yet to air season 10 but are planning to do so later this year. The purpose of this post today is to let you know who the primary broadcasters are. I cannot however, give you dates and times. You are going to have to look those up and research them on your own. And if you don’t want to seek out other stations playing season 10 then Netflix, Hulu, Feeln and the others will eventually air the 18 episodes of season 10, but not until next year. Now some of you may find methods of watching season 10 that are not licensed. These are illegally uploaded and in some cases are on pirate sites. Please do not post these in the comments below as a way to watch season 10. Doing so will get your comment deleted. And please note – There are no legal uploads of Heartland episodes on YouTube. None. So that’s how America can watch season 10. There are lots of networks I have not mentioned that broadcast older seasons – LightTV being the latest, and eventually they will air all seasons, but if you wish to rely on them you will have to be patient. And a couple of final notes just so everyone is clear – Heartland is filming season 11 now in Canada. It will premiere on CBC across Canada beginning in the fall and ending in April. Season 11 will not be available for any other countries to broadcast until after the season finale has aired in Canada. CBC is the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is not available to most Americans, but is picks up in part of Washington State, Michigan and New York which are close to the Canadian-US border. I hope this post has been helpful, although it may be disappointing for some of you. But know that in Canada we sometimes have to wait for over a year to watch some of your series.
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