This may be great news for Netflix and I really do hope some of the Disney stuff makes it over the pond to the UK.
One thing i've noticed though (especially in the UK) is that it's becoming a three way licensing battle. I think eventually we'll have each major VOD provider (Sky, LoveFilm and Netflix) have exclusive licensing arrangements with 1/3rd of the content providers each so to enjoy a full range of content you'd need subscriptions to all three. I wish they'd compete on other factors other than exclusive licensing arrangements.
I don't know about UK pricing, but here in the US subscribing to Hulu Plus, Netflix, and specific shows on Amazon and iTunes (e.g. Mythbusters) is still much cheaper than a monthly cable subscription.
UK pricing is very reasonable, the problem we have is things don't make it here until years after release, even with iTunes purchasing. I don't mind it much because I've got used to it and I'll just watch a show once it's available, but it does mean I can't partake in online discussions.
A good example is Breaking Bad, we got Season 4 on Netflix the same day that Season 5 was airing in the US. I won't be able to see Season 5 until Season 6- okay I just checked netflix and they have Breaking Bad season 5!! I love you for inspiring me to check. Hah... see you in 8 hours when I come back to finish this comment and the now invalid complaint.
I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but there will be no season 6. Season 5 is the final one – the first half aired this summer, the last 8 episodes will air next summer.
I believe that Netflix premiered Season 5 in the UK. In other words, Netflix was the first place for Brits to legitimately watch the latest episodes of Breaking Bad.
FYI, unblock-us.com is a handy service that lets you easily switch between the different Netflix libraries (US, Canada and UK). It costs $5 per month and is well worth it!
I've seen unblock-us.com being recommended a lot. I signed up for it a couple days back to get my Burn Notice fix and it's definitely awesome. I went through the trial a month ago and found the streaming to be real crap (maybe I just went through it at a bad time) but after signing up for a month it's now great.
The US Netflix has so much great content (but we have all the cool BBC stuff here too).
It's not that content is blocked, each region has a distinct catalog based on what Netflix has licensed for that region. There is strong overlap, but all regions are unique.
Netflix's business model is based on a relatively fixed number of hours of streaming per account, and basing licensing fees off of that number of hours.
There are only so many hours in a month, and like any service they probably make money on a large percentage of their users and lose money on a small percentage.
> I think eventually we'll have each major VOD provider (Sky, LoveFilm and Netflix) have exclusive licensing arrangements with 1/3rd of the content providers each so to enjoy a full range of content you'd need subscriptions to all three.
I feel like, at least from a business perspective, this is the ideal circumstance for Netflix, Sky, and Lovefilm. If they can get a lock on 1/3 of the content, then everybody wins. If they got rid of exclusive arrangements, then Netflix could certainly take over from the other two, but they could take over from Netflix also. A contractually-enforced stalemate is a pretty good scenario.
That is not at all stable; if any two of the 3 combine together they will crush the 3rd one, so any 2 together will be more valuable than the sum of their values separately which will force a merger.
I've never known TV to not be split up like this; just now it's actually possible to buy a service like Netflix without being forced into paying for HBO and ESPN to do so (not that it stops ISPs from trying to indirectly anyway)
TV is split up that way, but it's very different in that most of the material is produced/financed in house. So they're essentially licensing the stuff exclusively to themselves.
Netflix and friends don't do that or not in any big way (Netflix is doing it with Arrested Development).
One thing i've noticed though (especially in the UK) is that it's becoming a three way licensing battle. I think eventually we'll have each major VOD provider (Sky, LoveFilm and Netflix) have exclusive licensing arrangements with 1/3rd of the content providers each so to enjoy a full range of content you'd need subscriptions to all three. I wish they'd compete on other factors other than exclusive licensing arrangements.