Village Roadshow's CEO may have let the cat out of the bag by announcing that Netflix is heading to Australia (and New Zealand) in early 2015. While Netflix has been tight-lipped about the debut of the Australian version of their service, already available in many countries outside of the US, this latest development seems to coincide with reports that Netflix has been furiously securing Australia and New Zealand licensing rights to many shows in recent times.
But the latest comments by Village Roadshow CEO Graham Burke seems to be the clearest indications yet that Netflix is coming to Australia. Burke told CNET/ZDNet that Netflix has been talking to the studio about "supply of products", and that it is "pretty widely known" around the industry that "Netflix is opening operation in Australia next year."
Over 200,000 Australian households have already signed up to Netflix despite the company not having an official presence locally, thanks to the use of VPNs and geo-unblockers. With Netflix's local offering expected to cost as little as $10, it is seen as the biggest challenge yet to the dominant position currently enjoyed by cable TV operator Foxtel.
Industry sources believe Foxtel has already started making moves against the launch of Netflix, by signing up exclusive SVOD deals for shows like Breaking Bad and Mad Men. Foxtel has also launched their Presto service, a $19.95 "all-you-can" eat movie streaming service that includes some recent movies as well as access to a sizable back catalogue of titles, but does not include any television content at the moment.
