5 ms·

Well, it's most likely some sort of licensing issue. If Netflix could show you all the same content that it does in the U.S. for the same price they absolutely

by muninn_ 10y ago

Well, it's most likely some sort of licensing issue. If Netflix could show you all the same content that it does in the U.S. for the same price they absolutely would.

Y-bar 10y ago
I agree that it most likely is some sort of licensing issue which prevents the same content. But Netflix isn't paying for Cinema Paradiso, or Braveheart, or Zootopia, or … in Sweden. In fact the Swedish library is less than half the size of the US library[1]. Yet Swedish consumers pay just as much as US consumers. There is a large discrepancy in the value given for customers' money here which Netflix does not address. [1] http://cordcutting.com/how-many-titles-are-available-on-netflix-in-your-country/
- msabalau 10y ago
  And, no doubt, there is a fixed overhead of dealing with with Swedish customers that is spread out over far fewer consumers than in the US.
  - Y-bar 10y ago
    What kind of overhead, specifically, would that be? Swedes speak to the same english-only customer service representatives as US customers do. And CDN cost should scale mostly linearly with the size of the customer base.
    - lorenzhs 10y ago
      License dealings are often per-country, and there are different exclusive deals in different countries which prevent anyone else from offering some film or show on their streaming platform. There's a lot of legal overhead per country, unfortunately.
      - pbhjpbhj 10y ago
        >"There's a lot of legal overhead per country, unfortunately." // Which it's worth remembering is entirely self-imposed by the industry. Why, if Netflix comes along and says "we want to give you more money by showing this media to Swedes too" do the media conglomerates not fallover themselves to make it happen. It needs a couple of checkboxes on a form somewhere.
        lorenzhs 10y ago
        I'm not arguing in favour of the status quo, but merely trying to explain it. I completely agree that the current situation isn't very good---neither for consumers nor (probably) content right holders.
        talmand 10y ago
        >> do the media conglomerates not fallover themselves to make it happen Apparently they are not willing to do so for their own reasons or their licensing demands are too high for Netflix to sustain their service. I somehow doubt Netflix is turning away licensed content because they don't want to make money from that content.
pbhjpbhj 10y ago
I doubt it, they'd sell it at higher cost because in other countries there are often few alternatives. Shows established in the USA become part of the global culture, USA is very good at exporting its culture. Once established, in order for people in other countries to buy in to that culture then exported media can be sold at higher value. This is one of the reasons for regional encoding. You don't want to let outsiders buy in to something that's established as cool

by muninn_ 10y ago

Well, it's most likely some sort of licensing issue. If Netflix could show you all the same content that it does in the U.S. for the same price they absolutely would.

Y-bar 10y ago

I agree that it most likely is some sort of licensing issue which prevents the same content. But Netflix isn't paying for Cinema Paradiso, or Braveheart, or Zootopia, or … in Sweden. In fact the Swedish library is less than half the size of the US library[1]. Yet Swedish consumers pay just as much as US consumers. There is a large discrepancy in the value given for customers' money here which Netflix does not address. [1] http://cordcutting.com/how-many-titles-are-available-on-netflix-in-your-country/

msabalau 10y ago
And, no doubt, there is a fixed overhead of dealing with with Swedish customers that is spread out over far fewer consumers than in the US.
- Y-bar 10y ago
  What kind of overhead, specifically, would that be? Swedes speak to the same english-only customer service representatives as US customers do. And CDN cost should scale mostly linearly with the size of the customer base.
  - lorenzhs 10y ago
    License dealings are often per-country, and there are different exclusive deals in different countries which prevent anyone else from offering some film or show on their streaming platform. There's a lot of legal overhead per country, unfortunately.
    - pbhjpbhj 10y ago
      >"There's a lot of legal overhead per country, unfortunately." // Which it's worth remembering is entirely self-imposed by the industry. Why, if Netflix comes along and says "we want to give you more money by showing this media to Swedes too" do the media conglomerates not fallover themselves to make it happen. It needs a couple of checkboxes on a form somewhere.
      - lorenzhs 10y ago
        I'm not arguing in favour of the status quo, but merely trying to explain it. I completely agree that the current situation isn't very good---neither for consumers nor (probably) content right holders.
      - talmand 10y ago
        >> do the media conglomerates not fallover themselves to make it happen Apparently they are not willing to do so for their own reasons or their licensing demands are too high for Netflix to sustain their service. I somehow doubt Netflix is turning away licensed content because they don't want to make money from that content.

pbhjpbhj 10y ago

I doubt it, they'd sell it at higher cost because in other countries there are often few alternatives. Shows established in the USA become part of the global culture, USA is very good at exporting its culture. Once established, in order for people in other countries to buy in to that culture then exported media can be sold at higher value. This is one of the reasons for regional encoding. You don't want to let outsiders buy in to something that's established as cool