Netflix suffers Australian ‘blow’

Weekend press reports in Australia suggest that most of the Hollywood Studios have resisted agreeing content deals with Netflix, which is reportedly planning to roll out its streaming service in the country.

Technology and lifestyle website SmartHouse was the first to report that “at least five” of the US majors have not inked programming deals with Netflix for Australia.

The studios have longstanding relationships and various output deals with Australian free-to-air and pay TV broadcasters and US series and movies resonate strongly with Australian viewers.

The Netflix news was not attributed to a particular source, but was revealed as part of an interview piece with Richard Freudenstein, the CEO of Australian pay TV service Foxtel.

The Foxtel exec was bullish about the company’s prospects of taking on Netflix should it launch a service in Australia.

The pay TV platform operator is about to launch a next-generation set-top box and a new triple play offer bundling TV, internet and telephony. The triple play service has been made possible after Foxtel parent company News Corp. inked a deal with Australian telco Telstra.