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NETFLIX MADE A major announcement at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas where it launched in more than 130 different countries.
Now that it’s available around the world – with the exception of China and three other countries – the next step for it is ensuring the catalogue of shows and movies are consistent across the board.
When asked about the possibility of Netflix’s shows and movies being available across all territories, its CEO Reed Hastings said it hopes to see content on Netflix consistent across the world “over the next five to ten years”.
“We want citizens of the world to have the same content. And so we’re aligned, but really we’re in many ways a step ahead because we can operate faster as a private company than a government to be able to licence our new shows,” he said. “That’s going to be available in every country of the world. And all of our new originals are like that”.
So as we build the library, as we do more licensing and renew existing deals, we’re getting to the state over the next five or ten years where everything will be consistent around Netflix and everything will be available globally.
Its head of content Ted Sarandos added that the current shows Netflix produces, which include shows like House of Cards, Narcos, Making a Murderer and Jessica Jones, are a “patchwork” for solving this but said “all that kind of regional availability will just kind of narrow out of existence over time”.
Certain shows like Better Call Saul are available in the Irish and UK version of Netflix, but not in the US, an issue caused by regional licensing and something Netflix hopes will become less of an issue over time.
“Unfortunately, we’ve still got territorial licensing that’s a legacy of the last seven or eight years, but we’re moving as quickly as we can to have global availability of all the content of Netflix so that there are no regional distinctions,” said Sarandos.
But we’re still somewhat a prisoner of the current distribution architecture and we’re trying really hard to get there. We know people want to be able to access any content anywhere.
Taking on the world
Hastings used the keynote at CES to launch the service in more than 130 countries – the major exception being China which he said they would “hope to also be in the future”.
The service has more than 69 million members before it announced its expansion, and streams over 125 million hours of content to viewers a day, according to Hastings.
When asked about launching in China, he said it was working with the government to launch it there.
It takes time”, he said. “In China, you need specific permission from the government to be able to operate so we’re continuing to work on that and we’re very patient. The content is great. I think we’re going to be a success there, but it’s going to take some time”.
The other countries that it can’t operate in under US law are North Korea, Syria and Crimea, but Hastings said there wasn’t “a ton of internet usage in those three so that’s not a big sacrifice”.
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A quick change to your DNS settings does the job in the meantime.
Zzzzzzz
Yeah, if you want ALL of your traffic routed through someone else’s network in order to do that.
Pay 5 quid a month for a VPN, don’t be stupid.
It only routes traffic on the device you use not all traffic. And a VPN is through someone else’s computer (server)
Through someone else’s computer \ server \ network
VPN will usually be encrypted, and yes you’re right about not all devices if you change it on the device itself, however some people are changing it on their router which means every thing.
Also, if you’re using it on your laptop, that’s pretty sensitive traffic that’s happily being routed through random guys server – who’ll happily hoover up anything he can.
F*ck me, looking at the red thumbs the VPN comments got it’s no wonder cyber crime is so rampant here.
Quick copy and paste from a security blog:
RANDOM DNS PROXY CODES, THE RISKS ?
Using a Smart DNS proxy service, is not a bad idea. The only problem is that you do NOT know what traffic is being re-routed, so you do have to trust the Smart DNS proxy service. If you randomly find DNS codes online, and then apply those codes to unblock Netflix and the likes you risk the hazards below.
Your privacy is exposed, do you even know what information is gathered about you, how long it is kept, and for what purposes ?
Performance issues. If you are using an online random code, chances might be it is overloaded, and DNS queries are slow, which in turn slows down all of your Internet.
Your personal information is at risk ! Given that you do not know who operates and owns that DNS code. You are at risk of your personal information such as Facebook information, Bank accounts, email accounts, being re-routed and stolen.
Stability at loss. How much fun is it, if you have to keep running around fetching DNS codes, and your Internet being down on and off all the time.
No support ! If you have issues with the service, who do you turn to ?
Free ? Why ? So there is a DNS proxy code online, which is free to use ? Why ? I mean what is in it for the DNS code owner ? Under which jurisdiction is he acting ? And again under what privacy rules ?
I have a clue what you are talking about so I didn’t red thumb or green thumb. Everyone must be experts and disagree with you.
I think it’s more the interpretation of the attitude
Use the “Hola!” App in your browser. Easy.
Literally the worst offender
How can a sentence like this get into a published article:
“Certain shows like Better Call Saul are available in the Irish and UK version of Netflix, but not in the US and the reason why content is different depending on the country you’re viewing it in.”
I am waiting for the point of the sentence…
“The service has more than 69 million members before it announced its expansion, and streams over 125 hours of content to viewers a day, according to Hastings.”
Also according to the Journal Netflix only streams 125 hours to 69 million people each day which works out at .0065 seconds per customer on a daily basis which doesn’t sound quite correct to me but who am I to question these professional journalists!
The Journal is only short on one thing: good journalists. The standard of writng here drops daily. It is incredible that a public service would not try to ensure some sort of quality control. If some of the writng here was handed up in a school essay it would be handed straight back.
5 to 10 years.. In tech world that’s an eternity. 5 – 10 months might cut it better.
In 5-10 years the way we consume content will have changed again.
‘We want citizens of the world to have the same content.’
How depresssing is that. I thought the future was going to be all about diversity?
It’s a great service. The streaming on Netflix is leagues better than any other. Compared say to Sky on a PC, it doesn’t compare. I don’t know how they do it, they must have an enormous array of servers and advanced technology to do it.
You also know just how awful your broadband is when Netflix pauses to buffer!
To be fair your broadband would need to be really bad for buffering problems…my broadband is completely shit (up to 8mb) and my Netflix works perfectly 99% of the time.
Can I watch Netflix in Holland on iPad ?
If you can’ there are ways to configure settings so to answer your question that would be a yes
Yeah you can mate, was there in November and it worked great. Much better shows too.
Only if you’re in Holland, and own a iPad and subscribe to Netflix.
If you’ve got an android just get showbox.
If you have a PC, get Kodi
Just use Hola in Chrome. It’s free and easy to use. You can log into US Netflix, Canada and anywhere else. Netflix in the Netherlands has a fantastic selection of movies not available here.
http://uk.businessinsider.com/hola-used-for-botnet-on-chrome-2015-5 Be careful with Hola, like all freebies there are strings attached and its not without risks.
After initial excitement I wonder if Netflix is still worth its price. It’s quite low but movie selection is very lacking, not even one third of IMDb top 100 are available to watch…
Never mind any new movies – in recently added section I can see movies from 2010 and 2012…
They don’t have much competition now and that’s what keeps them going.
Compare it to the price of your TV licence, RTE costs 150 per year and has adds. Netflix works out at 8 per month so €92 per year with the first month free and no adds. The selection of content is probably comparable as well!
Works on iOS too
have your say