As major TV makers slug it out in retailers with flashy new Ultra High Definition TV’s and new Smart TV capability, Australia’s struggling free to air TV stations are slugging it out between themselves, in a desperate effort to establish a presence in the IP TV arena before Netflix lands in OZ.
According to Reed Hastings the CEO of US streaming giant Netflix the only thing holding Netflix back from entering the Australian market is the cost that movie houses want to charge for content.
Network Ten who are struggling to get an audience to watch their TV shows is now looking to attract an audience to their Ten Play IPTV service in an effort to build an audience ahead of Netflix launching their service in Australia.
The Australian has revealed that the Seven Network is considering approaches from Optus, digital TV platform Freeview, and movie subscription service Quickflix to join forces for an online streaming service to rival Netflix who is believed to already be getting over 300,000 Australians to buy their services via illegal downloads.
The new Seven Optus service that is muted for 2015 with some insiders claiming it will struggle to get off the ground.
The Nine Network is currently working on their Stream Co IPTV service as a competitor to Netflix.
Recently bosses complained to US studios that the maker of Kevin Spacey hit House of Cards was diminishing the value of output deals, the agreements under which the Seven, Nine and Ten networks pay studios fees for television programs.
The complaint which was primarily made by Foxtel who is under threat from both the free to air network IPTV offerings and Netflix was made after it was revealed that tens of thousands of Australians had downloaded House Of Cards illegally in Australia rather than pay the high price that Foxtel was demanding of consumers.
Currently Netflix accepts payments from Australian credit card holders, despite a “geo-block” that can be easily bypassed by internet users.
The Australian said that Netflix is said to be in talks about output deals for Australian content that can be streamed ?locally and in other markets.
This comes despite official claims from Netflix that it is ?focused on expanding its footprint in Europe, where it has recently struck a deal with British cable provider Virgin Media to incorporate Netflix into subscription packages.
Foxtel who are desperate to get traction for their IPTV Presto service which was launched in Australia recently is believed to have approached several TV manufacturers and TV stations in an effort to build a relationship that will drive consumers to their struggling service.
Foxtel has approached the Seven Nine and Ten networks recently.
Currently the Nine Network is working towards launching its own streaming service, codenamed Stream Co, by the end of this year.
