ip cover_ip cover 29/08/2014 16:53 Page 1
IP Television
INTERNATIONAL
VOL. 10 NO. 2
Netflix on international charge
nalysis of Netflix
subscriber data by
pay-TV analysis firm
Digital TV Research backs
up comments made by CEO
Reed Hastings on Netflix’s
Q2 Earnings Call that there
is a growing demand for
control and for the consumer be able to click and
watch what they want,
resulting in a stepping-up
on international expansion.
While Netflix has some
35,085,000 US subscribers, it
has 12,907,000 across its international operations. Of those,
the UK and Ireland leads the way
with 4,452,000 subscribers, with
Canada recording 3,000,000,
A
Curzon outlines Home
Cinema aims
UK video on Demand service Curzon Home Cinema –
already available on BT TV
and via digital satellite platform Freesat’s Freetime connected TV service – has
revealed further details
of its aims
and aspirations.
Phil
Mordecai,
director of
Curzon Home Cinema,
described Curzon as “more
than just a cinema” suggesting it was vertically integrated
across the video value chain,
and was about much more
than offering just any film
output from Hollywood,
instead specialising in catering for different demograph-
Latin America 2,455,000 and the
Nordic countries 2,140,000.
David Wells, CFO, advised
that Netflix was looking at a
range of 700m to 800m broad-
band households globally. “In all
of these territories outside the
US, particularly in Europe, we
are growing at a much faster
pace. The exiting aspects of us as
ics, with individual cinemas
reflecting this in terms of
content offerings and design.
“We don’t believe we’re
just a VoD platform,” he suggested. “From a consumer
point, we’re a virtual venue,”
he said, noting that in setting
up the Curzon Home Cinema,
the challenge was
how to replicate
Curzon’s
value in
design and
approach in
the ‘virtual’ setting.
According to Mordecai, the
successful launch of the service had been achieved by
working with partners such as
Easel TV, Microsoft and
PayWizard, which had enabled
Curzon to pioneer ‘day and
date’ distribution of movie
titles in the UK. “It sounds
easy, but it’s not. Hollywood
doesn’t like it; we’re breaking
the mould and what makes us
unique is that no other company has this full value chain
ownership from acquiring,
owning, distributing and
showing. That’s important.
We can guarantee volume and
quality of product. Essentially,
we’re a real cinema; not just
sticking a badge on the service.”
FlixFling boost for
UltraViolet
Online movie service
FlixFling has signed a distribution deal with Warner
Bros. Home
Entertainment for
the studio’s newrelease and catalogue EST titles
with UltraViolet
a global distribution platform are
being able to bring great content
to markets in the US to markets
in Europe and Asia we like the
prospects of our opportunities
there.”
“In September, we’ll be
launching Netflix in Germany,
France, Austria, Switzerland,
Belgium, and Luxembourg. This
launch into markets with over 60
million broadband households
will significantly increase our
European presence and raise our
current international addressable market to over 180 million
broadband households, or 2x the
number of current US broadband
households,” Netflix said in a
Results Letter to Shareholders.
compatibility.
FlixFling will add an extensive range of Warner movies
and TV titles, including The
Lego Movie, Man of Steel,
Pacific Rim and the Harry
Potter series.
“This agreement has been
a long time in the making,
and the logical next step as
our business continues to
grow,” commented CEO
Thomas Ashley. “With our
growing retail relationships
and with our upcoming
UltraViolet launch, the timing
could not be better.”
“We are very excited to
add Warner Bros. as our latest
studio partner. WB content is
the perfect complement to
our already deep
catalogue of studio
and independent
titles,” added
FlixFling chairman
Brad Heffler.