Netflix expansion: Service to land in six more European countries this year

By Trevor Mogg May 21, 2014

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Netflix is gearing up to bring on board what it hopes will be millions of new subscribers after announcing plans to launch its service in six more European countries.

The online video behemoth said Tuesday it intends to start offering its content to TV and movie fans in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium and Luxembourg by the end of this year.

The coming expansion follows the recent arrival of Netflix in other European countries, namely the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands.

“Upon launch, broadband users in these countries can subscribe to Netflix and instantly watch a curated selection of Hollywood, local and global TV series and movies, including critically-acclaimed Netflix original series, whenever and wherever they like on TVs, tablets, phones, game consoles and computers,” the company said in a release.

Incumbent rivals such as France’s FilmoTV have already been readying themselves for Netflix’s arrival, a development that will inevitably shake up the VOD sector across the continent.

FilmoTV president Bruno Delecour told Variety in March that while his service wouldn’t be able to compete with Netflix in terms of the number of titles it offers, “we can stand out thanks to the quality of our content,” a factor that he believes “makes FilmoTV different from superstores like Netflix.”

In Germany, meanwhile, satellite operator Sky Deutschland has recently launched a Netflix-style service called Snap. Germany and France are two of the world’s top ten broadband markets, so Netflix’s expansion could prove lucrative if it succeeds in making an impact in the two nations.

With 134 million broadband subscribers, Western Europe as a whole is hugely important to Netflix. By way of comparison, there are currently around 88 million broadband subscribers in the US.

Since launching its streaming service in 2007, the California-based company has built a user base of 48 million subscribers across more than 40 countries.

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Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

Audio / Video

Netflix considering ad-supported tier at lower price

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On the day that it reported the loss of subscribers for the first time in more than a decade, Netflix has revealed it is considering an ad-supported tier for a lower subscription fee.

Netflix co-founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings made the revelation during a conference call with investors on Tuesday, April 19.

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HBO Max expands its service to 15 more countries

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If you've been waiting for HBO Max to come to your region, this may be your lucky week. On Tuesday, WarnerMedia announced it extended its premium streaming platform to 15 additional European countries. This latest move continues WarnerMedia's global HBO Max initiative and marks the second wave of their European rollout.

The 15 countries where HBO Max is now available include: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

Entertainment

The best on-demand streaming services

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Of the nearly countless on-demand streaming services out there, three stand out: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Netflix. Unfortunately, choosing which one is worthy of your credit card information and time isn't an easy task -- and with a combined subscription fee that's north of $40, subscribing to all three isn't a viable option for most.

Even if you're cutting the cord, the trio -- merged with a channel-specific service such as CBS All Access or HBO and a live TV platform such as Sling TV -- could add up to the same monthly cost as your traditional cable or satellite. So much for those cord-cutting savings, huh? That's why it's important to understand what you need from an on-demand streaming service. So, to help you find the best on-demand streamer for you, we've put together this comprehensive comparison guide.
Price
Amazon offers two main versions of its Prime subscription, either $119 annually or $13 per month (or $59 annually when you sign up with a valid student email address). Both versions net you the same perks, including two-day shipping -- or free one-day shipping in some cases -- discounted prices on select items, cloud storage, and, most importantly for our purposes, on-demand video (and music) streaming. The best part is that 4K Ultra HD content with HDR comes standard at no extra cost. Plus, you can share accounts with friends and family, so everyone can get in on the deals.
Netflix's various subscription tiers currently range from $9 to $18 depending on your desired video quality -- SD resolution is just $9 per month, but you can only stream on one device at a time. Moving up to HD will cost you $14 per month for two streams while moving up to 4K Ultra HD will now cost you $18 per month for four streams at a time. The prices will also go up should you add the DVD/Blu-ray rental service.
Hulu currently starts at just $7 for the ad-based service or $13 for the ad-free option (which we still highly recommend, even at nearly double the cost). Hulu's options don't stop there as it also offers a streaming live-TV package called Hulu+Live TV for $65 (increasing to $70 per month as of December 21, 2021), which is similar to Sling TV and YouTube TV. The subscription includes more than 75-plus channels on top of the service's regular on-demand library, and there are also add-on features at an additional fee, including a $6 fee to get rid of most ads altogether. You'll also get better savings with Hulu if you're a Disney+ and ESPN+ subscriber, as the illustrious Disney Bundle saves you $6 on the streaming trio.
Especially for those who want to stream 4K at the lowest possible price, Amazon is the cheapest bet and has stated that the company won't raise prices for 4K streaming. The sheer number of extra features and benefits included in Amazon Prime gives it an advantage over its competitors, as well. Throw in Amazon's student discount, and this is an easy win.
Winner: Amazon