The Canadian version of Netflix debuted in Canada Wednesday, and CBC.ca decided to interview founder and CEO Reed Hastings about the future of the service in Canada.
Among the topics discussed were download limits, pricing and the availability of some content in Canada.
CBC: There's a big difference in the content available in Canada and the U.S. In the U.S., you have considerably more television shows from the big networks, but not here. Can you explain why that is?
Hastings: It's two parts: it's a licensing issue and it's budget. There are some shows in reverse that we have here that we don't have in the U.S., like Mad Men. As an example, the rights holder in Canada for Mad Men was willing to take our money for that show but in the states, they haven't been. They perceive they have other options. In the reverse, for [something like] Dexter we've been able to do a deal with the rights holder in the U.S. but not in Canada. Think of it as a mix back and forth. But the big driver is how much can we spend? The more that we can spend, the more we can license. The hope is that we can get the word out with Canadians about what a great value this is — $7.99 a month for unlimited viewing — and if lots of people subscribe, than we're able to put more money in the content and make the service better.
Check out the complete interview here.
With more than 15 million members, Netflix, Inc. [Nasdaq: NFLX] is the world’s largest subscription service streaming movies and TV episodes over... [more]
Liam Britten
Liam Britten is a writer and editor with a journalism background operating out of Vancouver. In addition to his work at Techvibes, he has been published in student publications across Canada, as well as local newspapers such as The MapleRidge-Pitt Meadows TIMES and The Langley Advance.
An aficionado for the finer things in life — such as video games...[more]
