{"id":1646,"date":"2011-09-14T09:59:59","date_gmt":"2011-09-14T14:59:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=1646"},"modified":"2013-11-22T09:24:24","modified_gmt":"2013-11-22T14:24:24","slug":"how-could-netflix-affect-tv-and-movie-watching-in-the-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2011\/09\/how-could-netflix-affect-tv-and-movie-watching-in-the-region\/","title":{"rendered":"How could Netflix affect TV and movie watching in the region?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post discusses the possible impact of Netflix, which launched in the Caribbean this week.<\/em><\/p>\n

Over the last few months, the Caribbean and Latin America have been eagerly awaiting the launch of Netflix<\/a>, one of the world\u2019s largest Internet movie and TV series subscription service. The wait is finally over! Netflix launched service in the Caribbean on Monday, 12 September, with an advertised monthly subscription of USD 7.99 to view unlimited movies and TV episodes. Although we as customers might be excited to embrace all that Netflix has to offer, its availability in the region could have far-reaching implications for existing media distribution services.<\/p>\n

What is Netflix?<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a> Netflix is subscription-based, on-demand Internet streaming media service, which originated as a flat-rate DVD rental-by-mail service, which still operates today. It has over 25 million subscribers, based primarily in the US and Canada. However, with the launch of service in Latin America and the Caribbean, and its planned expansion into Europe in 2012, the company is poised to significantly increase its consumer base and market share.<\/p>\n

Advantages of Netflix<\/h3>\n

From the outset Netflix appears to offer some clear advantages over conventional media distribution options, such as TV broadcast and cable\/subscriber TV.<\/p>\n

Price. <\/strong>Most cable\/subscriber TV services in the Caribbean offer a basic package, which is priced around the level Netflix has advertised or is more expensive. However, customers must pay extra to access popular or premium (especially movie and sports) channels, which increases the monthly fee. Movies-on-demand is another separate charge that is usually paid per movie selected. Hence Netflix is likely to offer a more cost-effective service, since the price is cheaper than most providers, and includes unlimited viewing of movies and TV episodes.<\/p>\n

Content. <\/strong>Potentially, Netflix\u2019s entire library of movies and TV shows, which is rumoured to contain around 20,000 titles, could be available for viewing. Hence customer choice of what to watch may only be limited by whether a particular title is available for streaming. For the conventional cable\/broadcast TV subscriber, the viewing choice is limited to content that is being transmitted by the provider. As a result, customers have little choice but to watch (or not to watch) content that is being aired.<\/p>\n

Internet TV vs. traditional subscription TV<\/strong>. As a service delivered over the Internet, Netflix can be accessed via a broad range of Internet and media-enabled devices, such as PCs, notebooks, smartphone, tablets, video game consoles and TVs. On the other hand, cable TV and similar services are usually viewed on TVs, or on PCs or laptops equipped with the necessary add-on modules. Since Netflix\u2019s service can be delivered to portable\/mobile devices, it offers considerable flexibility and convenience to today\u2019s customer.<\/p>\n

On-demand vs. planned programming. <\/strong>Although mentioned in earlier paragraphs, it must be specifically highlighted that since Netflix is an on-demand service, it gives customers considerable control over not only what they want to watch, but also when they want to watch a particular movie or TV show. With conventional subscription services, content is delivered according to a prescribed schedule.<\/p>\n

Other implications<\/h3>\n

In addition to competing directly with TV broadcast and cable\/subscription TV providers, Netflix could also challenge video rental stores and even movie cinemas due to the vast library of movies that can be accessed for a flat monthly fee. With regard to movie cinemas in the region, the only significant advantage they might have over Netflix, is the fact that gap in time between a movie being released in its domestic markets and in the Caribbean is collapsing. Hence new movie releases might be available at the cinema well before they are available for online distribution.<\/p>\n

It is also possible that since safe movie content is now being made available online (via Netflix) for a reasonable price, free movie viewing sites might lose some of their market. On many of those sites, bootleg content is being shared, which is often riddled with malware, spam and other threats to viewers\u2019 computing security.<\/p>\n

Challenges that Netflix might face in the region<\/h3>\n

Although Netflix might offer a number of advantages over traditional TV broadcast and subscription services, some challenges are anticipated, which could affect take-up of the service.<\/p>\n

Internet connectivity<\/strong>. \u00a0Although most Caribbean countries offer a range of broadband packages, in order to achieve quality video streaming, higher broadband speeds are needed. Netflix recommends a minimum connection speed of 1.5 Mbps, and at least 3 Mbps is required for better video quality. However, as discussed in our post, EDGE, WiMAX, 3G or 4G \u2013 what\u2019s the difference?<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, there can be a wide disparity between the advertised speed, and that actually provided. Further, when the relatively high latency (delays) inherent in the region is considered, along with the decrease in download speed that occurs over time when large files are being transmitted, it is possible that many prospective customers will not be able to enjoy the Netflix experience.<\/p>\n

Bandwidth limitations. <\/strong>Coupled with the previous point, it must be highlighted that Internet TV consumes considerable bandwidth. As at May 2011, Netflix accounted for almost 30% of peak downstream traffic in North America (Sandvine<\/a>). When the average size of a full-length movie is considered, the current infrastructure and bandwidth connecting countries in the region to the Internet might not be adequate to support extensive take-up of quality Internet TV.<\/p>\n

Content licensing and limitation<\/strong>. Although this is yet to be confirmed, the content delivered by Netflix could still be subject to the licensing limitations \u2013 for Latin America and the Caribbean \u2013 that presently apply to other media delivery providers. Hence Netflix might not necessarily be offering a wider selection of programming, consistent with what is available in the US, but just providing another option for delivering the same content currently available in the region.<\/p>\n

____________<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post discusses the possible impact of Netflix, which launched in the Caribbean this week. Over the last few months, the Caribbean and Latin America have been eagerly awaiting the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,80,17,11,6],"tags":[81,48,43,91],"class_list":["post-1646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-broadband","category-broadcasting","category-caribbean","category-ict-tech","category-internet","tag-broadcasting-2","tag-infrastructure","tag-internet-governance","tag-subscriber-tv","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2iE1G-qy","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1646"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1646"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42852,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1646\/revisions\/42852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}