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Netflix Makes Canadian Streaming Service Official
As expected, this morning Netflix officially announced its first non-U.S. offering, a streaming-only service in Canada, priced at CDN $7.99, including a 1-month trial. Netflix also announced Canadian content licensing deals with U.S. studios Lionsgate, MGM, Paramount, Sony, 20th Century Fox and Universal, plus Canadian distributors Alliance Films, Maple Pictures, eOne and Mongrel. In particular, Netflix called out the availability of movies like "Superbad," "A Beautiful Mind" and "Slumdog Millionaire" plus back episodes of AMC's "Mad Men" which are not available in the U.S. Conversely, some content available in the U.S. for streaming won't yet be available in Canada.
On the device front, Netflix announced compatibility with PS3 and Wii along with iPhone/iPad/iPod touch and Blu-ray players from Samsung and Toshiba, and with PCs and Macs. Later this fall Netflix streaming will work with other devices such as Xbox 360, Blu-ray players from Vizio and Insignia, Internet TVs from Samsung, Apple TV (when introduced in Canada). No doubt Netflix is working to harmonize device selection between the U.S. and Canada.
As I said in my previous post, the streaming-only approach means that Netflix avoids the capex and operating expense of DVD-by-mail. However, it also loses the majority of content selection, which is still only on DVD. Still, absent the DVD-by-mail barrier to entry, competitors are in a much better position to compete with Netflix on an even playing field. As I argued recently regarding Amazon, the DVD-by-mail benefits for content selection are still huge. Subtract them, as in the Canadian offer, and others can emulate Netflix far more easily. How well the Canadian streaming service fares will no doubt influence how aggressively Netflix pursues other international markets.
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Categories: Aggregators, International
Topics: Netflix
