Fairfax is reporting today that Netflix is poised to enter the Australian streaming market, locking-up an exclusive deal to screen the new TV series Gotham:
Providing the biggest hint yet that Netflix is preparing to launch locally, the US-based company has secured exclusive Australian subscription video on-demand rights to the highly anticipated superhero television series Gotham…
By acquiring subscription video on-demand (SVOD) rights from Time Warner’s Warner Bros, Netflix is giving its biggest sign yet that it intends to launch in Australia.
Nine Entertainment holds the broadcast, first-run, and in-season catch up rights to Gotham.
Netflix, should it launch in Australia, will be able to stream the show following the linear broadcast of each season on Nine. Nine will air Gotham later this year.
While I am a big fan of Netflix entering the Australian market, and believe it will provide consumers with greater choice and potentially lower costs than existing services (such as Foxtel), I am disappointed that an exclusive rights deal has been brokered.
The key to ensuring that consumers pay for content is to provide them with access on the broadest possible terms as well as at an affordable price, and to make it so that purchasing content legally is as convenient as ‘illegally’ downloading over the internet. This requires an end to exclusive deals, like the one struck by Netflix, and allowing consumers to purchase content in a variety of formats from a variety of locations, as well as making it legal to convert files as one sees fit for private use.
None of this is rocket science.
