iptv news_news 29/08/2014 16:53 Page 2
Netflix: “We’ll
invest in French
content”
eed Hastings, CEO of Netflix,
has confirmed the company
will invest in local content
when it enters the French market
this month.
Speaking on Netflix’s Q2 earnings call,
Hastings said the company was not seeking
to dodge any obligations to fund local
productions or pay relevant taxes. “We’re
not really trying to get around anything, we
want to invest in French society and French
content. And we want to give an avenue for
French content to get out around world.
There is some amazing French story tellers
and a great French movie business, TV
shows are growing,” he noted.
R
“We’re looking to do some investments
in France with production that we can do,”
he confirmed, joking that this could be a
local version of House of Cards: ‘House of
Versailles’. “We want to be loved in France
by French consumers because we
understand French content because we give
it a bigger home and because we’re
bringing some variety, like US television
shows, things that historically have been
under distributed.”
Ted Sarandos, CCO, noted that for all of
the protectionism and all of the cultural
favours, The Mentalist is the most popular
television show in France. “So the taste
don’t run that far off when you get down to
the consumer. But I am really excited to
have France look at us as somebody who
brings opportunity to the market, we’re not
there to harm the market in anyway. And
that we will employ French production and
create great content in France but for
around the world. Gaumont is a French
company that produces Hemlock Grove 1
now and is about to go into production
with Narcos. A lot of our animation
projects are co-productions with French
companies. So this is not new ground for
us. We’re really excited about it,” he
declared.
4 IP television
OSN launches OTT service
M
iddle East pay-TV operator
OSN has launched a videoon-demand service - Go by
OSN - in an attempt to combat online
piracy and pre-empt any potential
launch by Netflix and other similar
OTT players.
For $10
per month,
subscribers
can access
thousands of
hours of
premium
entertainment
including
Hollywood
blockbusters,
criticallyacclaimed Arabic productions, awardwinning TV series and popular kids
content. ‘Go by OSN’ is compatible
with all Internet providers, and is
available on fixed, WiFi, 3G, and 4G
mobile broadband across 24 countries
in the MENA region. The service is
currently available on PCs and Macs,
smartphones, and х