As tipped by SmartHouse, March 2015 has been confirmed as the month that Netflix will move to take on the massively overpriced subscription TV provider Foxtel in Australia.
In just a few hours thousands of Australians have lodged their email address with the US Company according to Netflix executives, who overnight opened up their web site to Australian registrations.
Go here to register. https://www.netflix.com/Global
Last night Netflix confirmed that it will officially launch in Australia and New Zealand in March among the content available will be over 140 content streams of TV shows and movies as well as their own funded TV series Marco Polo and BoJack Horseman also available will be Dreamworks’ All Hail King Julien as titles that will be available upon launch.
Currently Netflix is offering hundreds of movies and shows to US customers for as low as $10.95 a month. In comparison Foxtel is charging $120 a month for 92 channels, on top of this you pay $14 a month for the privilege of getting Full HD which comes free with the Netflix service.
Netflix has also secured exclusive SVOD rights to Batman prequel series Gotham.
Netflix said that it will continue to expand its content in Australia and New Zealand in 2015 to include series such as Bloodline, Marvel’s Daredevil, from Matrix creators’ Sense8 and from Friends creator Grace and Frankie.
Unlike Foxtel Netflix, will be available on hundreds of Internet-connected devices the service is also home to the critically acclaimed documentaries Virunga and Mission Blue, and stand-up comedy specials Uganda Be Kidding Me, Live, from Chelsea Handler and Jim Jefferies.
The Netflix ANZ selection will expand in 2015 to include the thriller Bloodline, Super Hero tale Marvels Daredevil, Sense8, a new globe-spanning thriller series from the creators of The Matrix trilogy and Babylon 5, from the creator of Friends, Grace and Frankie with Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda.
“Australia and New Zealand have been a long time coming for us,” Netflix director of corporate communications and technology Cliff Edwards told Fairfax Media.
“Both countries are great locations for us, we know that people have been very enthusiastic with us not in country and we hope that enthusiasm will grow when we launch in March.”
Mr Edwards said Australians could expect a lot more announcements on content, as well as pricing, in the coming months.
“We’ve been talking to content providers for quite some time in Australia and New Zealand as we always do before we launch in a country, we don’t just parachute in,” Mr Edwards said.
It is believed that Netflix will offer superior drama, movies and TV series to Foxtel in Australia but not sport with hundreds of Foxtel customers who are paying over $139 a month for the Foxtel Premium package set to switch to a combination of Netflix content as well as Foxtel sport package.
This could bring their subscription TV costs down by over $70 a month.
On September 4, Foxtel in a desperate move to lock in subscribers ahead of the Netflix launch slashed its basic cable package by half to $25 a month. Several people who contacted SmartHouse said that there was “no value” in the new package offering.
Netflix executives told SmartHouse at CES 2013 that they already have over 300,000 Australian customers on their books who use an Australian credit card to pay for the service.
These customers are using a virtual private network (VPN) to hide their IP location.
Netflix will be available at launch on smart TVs, tablets and smartphones, computers and a range of Internet-capable game consoles and set-top boxes. Additional details on pricing, programming and supported devices will be available at a later date. Consumers can sign up to be alerted when Netflix is available on www.netflix.com.
