Well not internationally delivering movies of course but Watch Instantly. The Sydney Morning Herald has an interesting piece on Australia's version of Netflix, EzyDVD. Looks like EzyDVD struck a deal two weeks ago to assume 30 percent ReelTime Media listed broadband content over the next three years.
It seems to me that there is a revenue stream Netflix is ignoring. Maybe Netflix could offer a reduced rate for international subscribers that only allows "Watch Instantly".
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Is is time for Netflix to go International?
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3 comments:
I am very glad that I found your post about this topic - it is past time for NetFlix to consider the overseas market. They have invested in converting their catalog to expand the 'Watch Now' feature and it just makes business sense to sell a subscription for Watch Now movies only.
I wish it were possible, but the world of rights and royalties is far too weird (and greedy) to let it happen. The rights to distribute movies, books, songs, etc. abroad are often split up into bundles by region, language or both and sold off to a foreign TV channel for a given time period, so while the American distributor may have signed an agreement with Netflix, iTunes, or whomever to distribute content in the USA, they unfortunately lost that right to do so abroad when they sold distribution rights in, say Spain or Germany or Japan, to one of that country's TV channels, who buy the exclusive rights to showing a movie for a period of time, so that a competing channel can't show it, too. Nor can Netflix, iTunes or anyone else distribute it in any other form.
As a result, we Americans abroad can't even get an old TV series on iTunes, let alone streaming content on the net. Even going to ABC's website to see online episodes of LOST doesn't work, since the website detects your IP as being abroad and then a window pops up saying, "sorry, this service is unavailable outside the USA." That's because ABC sold the local distribution rights when they sold the TV series to a foreign country TV station. Big bummer in this global digital world...
it's ridiculously idiotic to compare a single paying internet user trying to watch a movie in the home to a broadcaster sending out a signal to thousands. our complex international world accomodates nearly every permutation of relationship imaginable, yet no one can come up with a way to rewrite the rules on this trashy system? we buy US computers, US films/series, and pay for them with US bank accounts. the only 'outsider' is the ISP.
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