Netflix Is Finally Coming To Australia
But it might not be as good as you think.
In an interview this morning with ZDNet’s Josh Taylor, Co-CEO of Village Roadshow Graham Burke confirmed that the company is in negotiations with Netflix to prepare an Australian launch in the nearish future.
On reading that, your first reaction might be akin to this:
But Netflix touching down on our shores doesn’t necessarily mean amazing shows at your fingertips. Taylor (who is very good at reporting on this stuff, by the way) says that the reality of Netflix in Australia might not be as fantastic as it sounds.
“People have this idea in their head of Netflix providing easy access to all these high-quality shows like it does in the US, but a lot of them have existing local exclusivity deals with Foxtel. Netflix in Australia might look like what Quickflix does now, but without all the HBO content,” Taylor said.
It’s unclear what effect the news will have on the government’s ongoing plans to go after online pirates and break the Internet in the process. But if you were holding out for Netflix to be the saviour that finally, finally gives Australians the option to watch the shows they want legally without having to sign up to expensive pay TV contracts they don’t want, you might be waiting a while yet.