Netflix Is Now Available Around the World • Hacker News Board

Re: Netflix Is Now Available Around the World

#461

Post by ashaikh » Thu, Jan 07, 2016, 9:20 AM UTC

Jasonbe wrote: post #428

thegenius2000 wrote: post #409

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with what a lot of people have mentioned, though not focused on: Netflix needs to add sports if they want to really dominate at a global level. As an example, consider Africa (I'm Kenyan): the Barclays Premiere League is watched in virtually every country, but provided by one company, known as MultiChoice. Because almost everyone wants to watch football, and there is only one option, if they can afford it, th…

No sports is huge in Africa, Specially the Premier League. Most people only have a subscription to Multichoice because of the sport package that's included with the subscription. Having said that, it is possible to stream the Premier league - if you already have a Multichoice subscription.- South African.

Football (Soccer) is so much bigger globally than American football, it's not even close. The Super Bowl attracts 100 million viewers, a Real Madrid vs Barca game attracts 400 million viewers (a regular season game, not even champions league).

Re: Netflix Is Now Available Around the World

#462

Post by werid » Thu, Jan 07, 2016, 9:27 AM UTC

sorich87 wrote: post #410

prostoalex wrote: post #408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is HBO a follower here? They did original content for as long as they existed, and HBO Now has been available globally for a while now.

How can I access HBO globally? I see at the bottom of their website "HBO NOW is only accessible in the U.S. and certain U.S. territories where a high-speed broadband connection is available."

It depends where you are. There are different offerings: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HBO_%28international%29

Re: Netflix Is Now Available Around the World

#463

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jan 07, 2016, 9:35 AM UTC

zanny wrote: post #269

LordKano wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm of the belief that the better actors are paid far too much The market decides these things. It's difficult to argue that there isn't enough profit on a movie that has grossed over 1.5 billion dollars in three weeks to pay A-list actors A-list salaries. A-list actors don't make that kind of money because movie studios are generous. They make it because their presence puts butts in seats. Sure, the "Star Wars" name…

Would the movie have lost more than the amount they paid him, though? I'm pretty sure they could have released a blank tape on the screen, called it Star Wars 7, and made several hundred million dollars. Its hard to approximate the amount of sales exclusively to the presence of a specific actor, versus the reviews, ratings, and social response to good acting.

[deleted]

Re: Netflix Is Now Available Around the World

#464

Post by ascorbic » Thu, Jan 07, 2016, 9:45 AM UTC

r3bl wrote: post #117

ultramancool wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If PayPal takes your card, they'll accept it through that.

Nope, PayPal does not accept them neither.

Which country are you in? PayPal accepts Maestro in the UK, and lots of other places from what I can see. https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-countr...

Re: Netflix Is Now Available Around the World

#465

Post by 72deluxe » Thu, Jan 07, 2016, 9:54 AM UTC

TeMPOraL wrote: post #213

shortstuffsushi wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless they move to a model where you have to PPV for new / premium content like box office movies.

Here's an idea your comment made me think of: I wonder when are we going to see DLCs for movies? Imagine - you buy the base Force Awakens for $10, and then they offer you extra movie parts - $1 for one in which Chewbacca does something silly, $2 for one which features an additional 10-minutes-long scene of starships shooting at each other, etc.

I sincerely hope not. If you bought a book but were told you could get an extra chapter of storyline added in for extra money, you'd wonder "Does it contribute to the story in any way?" Ultimately, no. Or "will the story make sense if I do not buy this extra chapter?". Hopefully yes; hopefully the story makes sense without this extra chapter.

I wouldn't want to watch a film with extra fluff that added nothing to the story, just for a cash-grab by the maker of the film.

Extra add-on features are always pointless: look at the Dreamcast and the add-on packs you could put into the controller. As it was entirely optional, none of the games could depend on it being there so had to cater for controllers without it, so this little LCD on your controller just ended up showing Rayman walking or dancing, and contributed nothing to the game.

The same is happening with Macbooks and iPhones, where developers cannot rely on the user having a "force touch" touchpad or iPhone 6nnnn (whatever it is), so cannot rely on that hardware feature being available; because of this, they cannot say "feature X is done by using force touch" because if you have a Macbook without that hardware, you can't use that feature. So it must get ignored to cater to everyone.

In the case of stories and films, the story must still make sense without the extra scenes. This makes the extra scenes pointless.

Re: Netflix Is Now Available Around the World

#466

Post by Inflatablewoman » Thu, Jan 07, 2016, 9:54 AM UTC

craigds wrote: post #453

geoelectric wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't approach Netflix as "I want to see this movie so I go here," so much as "I want to watch something, so I'll pick from here." I'm never lacking a choice to watch, even with fairly specific criteria in mind. If I know exactly what I want to watch (and don't get lucky enough to find it on Amazon/Netflix/Hulu) I pay for PPV. I don't expect magic for <$10/mo, especially when the going rate for a one-off viewing is…

> I pay for PPV If only this were an option. I'd gladly pay a few bucks to stream a movie. But outside of the US and Canada I don't think PPV even exists at all. Amazon prime isnt available in my country. I dont know of any other online PPV sites (anyone?) If I can't stream it from one of these netflix-type sites (and as everyone else has pointed out, the selection is crap) my only options are drive to a DVD rental s…

iTunes?

Re: Netflix Is Now Available Around the World

#467

Post by 72deluxe » Thu, Jan 07, 2016, 10:01 AM UTC

funkyy wrote: post #207

charlesdm wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maestro isn't a credit card, it's a debit card. Probably worth getting a decent credit card !

Not everyone is happy to use CREDIT card. You can get a gift card that is top up. Some large shopping centers and shop chains offer them. They will have Visa or Mastercard logo and can be used as regular CC.

It is safer to use a credit card because if you get scammed on a debit card, you can kiss goodbye to your money. If you get scammed on a credit card, it is the lender's responsibility.

Re: Netflix Is Now Available Around the World

#468

Post by lorenzhs » Thu, Jan 07, 2016, 10:31 AM UTC

jsmeaton wrote: post #182

macspoofing wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Maybe a stupid questions but what if they disrupted not just TV but also cinema? They are trying. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2 is being released simultaneously in theaters and on Netflix. Some chains complained and are refusing to show it. But honestly, I don't see it. Cinema is $10-15/person/visit, and Netflix is $10/mo for an entire library of content. Profit margins for Hollywood aren't that great - so how do…

Maybe it'll force Hollywood to pay actors far far less. Harrison Ford was paid somewhere between 10 and 25 million (probably towards the lower end of that scale). Flipping the question a little bit, how do you justify paying actors 40 million for a movie if they're being streamed online for $5 a pop? I'm of the belief that the better actors are paid far too much and that releasing cinema to streaming services will co…

Wow, $43 (or even $23) is crazy. I just checked, in my city (in Germany) Star Wars costs 13€ (AU$20), and that's the English version in 3D with shutter glasses. "Normal" movies (no 3D, no excess length) are 7-8€ (AU$11-12.50). That's like... half of what you pay. Is Australia generally that expensive? :O

Re: Netflix Is Now Available Around the World

#469

Post by _nedR » Thu, Jan 07, 2016, 10:41 AM UTC

nitin88g wrote: post #367

Atleast in India, it will not take off. Present internet facilities in India will not be able to serve this. At an avg HD streaming of a movie in netflix for 2hrs takes around 3GB bandwidth. In India, except Hyderabad, any major city the internrt charges are so high that no one adopts it. For ex: in Bangalore, for 2000rs, you get 20mbps connection capped at 50Gb and after that its 8mbps only. If I take BSNL, for 2000…

>They should tie up with ISPs to something magic That would break net-neutrality which is currently a hot issue in India.

Re: Netflix Is Now Available Around the World

#470

Post by onion2k » Thu, Jan 07, 2016, 10:46 AM UTC

kagamine wrote: post #436

onion2k wrote: post #423

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are a large number of people actually interested in sports, or is it a large number of people within your filtered and biased social group that are interested? If I look at what my friends watch I'd get the impression no one watches sports or soaps and everyone would like the TV schedules to be filled with documentaries and satire. That doesn't make it true - it's just that's the sort of people I socialise with. I'm…

Is football (the real football, not handegg) popular in Europe and Africa? Is that your question? Football is most certainly popular.

I'm not really debating the popularity of football. Here in the UK it's popular - I'd guess that about 30% to 50% of adults watch it regularly (in a pub or going to a game), with maybe 1/4 of those being interested enough to pay for a TV service to watch it at home. It definitely isn't even close to "all middle to upper class families" as thegenius2000 suggested might be the case in Kenya though.

An interesting related statistic: Almost twice as many people go to the theatre in London as go to all the major Premiership football games[1]. I doubt many people would guess that if they were asked.

[1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/11001177/Almost-t...