Consumers winners as Netflix takes on Foxtel, Quickflix and Stan

CONSUMERS will be the winners as streaming services battle it out for the hearts, minds and money of Australians.

WITH a new front set to open up in the battle of the streaming video heavyweights, the winner is already clear: the Australian consumer.

The local landscape for watching streaming movies and television show is set to change dramatically in the next few months.

Netflix, which has 53 million members in about 50 countries, has announced it is opening up an Australian service in March next year.

Stan, a venture jointly owned by the Nine Network and Fairfax, is also due to begin services early next year.

Meanwhile Foxtel has lowered its prices in the past few months, cutting the cost to use its Presto movie streaming service by half, as it prepares to take on the new competition.

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Netflix’s leading drama ... House of Cards, starring Kevin Spacey, is licenced by Foxtel and shown on the Showcase channel in Australia.

A Foxtel spokesman responded to the Netflix announcement with a statement saying: “Foxtel welcomes competition as we believe in offering customers a choice.

“The subscription video-on-demand market is still growing and the entry of new players will help grow awareness of it as an optional supplement to Australia’s TV viewing.

“Foxtel is confident that it has the best possible content, delivered by world leading technology and that it can meet the needs of consumers, whether they want the full Foxtel experience or the simplicity and convenience of SVOD through our Presto service.”

If Foxtel is putting out a welcome mat of sorts to competitors, Quickflix CEO Stephen Langsford was more direct in his recent open letter to Netflix chief Reed Hastings.

“If you want Netflix to compete in Australia come through the front door,” Mr Langsford wrote, complaining of Netflix’s willingness to ignore unauthorised “back door” access to the US service.

Available at launch of Netflix in Australia in March next year ... Animated sitcom BoJack Horseman, starring Will Arnett as the title character. A second series has been commissioned.

Research released by the Choice consumer group this week revealed just how hungry Australians are for streaming content and how willing they are to pay for it even if it means fudging things, such as using a virtual private network to mask their country of origin.

The Choice data showed 340,000 Australian households are already subscribing to the US-based Netflix, with a total of 684,000 using one of a variety of US services.

While Netflix has announced it is coming to Australia, it is yet to make it clear what it will be offering to Australians when it gets here.

The Netflix statement released this week said pricing would be announced later and while it named some shows that would be available on Netflix Australia, big titles such as the hit made-for-Netflix series House of Cards and Orange is the New Black were notably absent in the announced line up.

A statement from Netflix says the catalogues in each country differ significantly “based on the content viewers in the country enjoy watching”.

Believed to be being shown at Netflix’s launch in Australia ... Actor Kyle Chandler (who plays John Rayburn) and Ben Mendelsohn (Danny Rayburn) in Bloodline. Picture: Saeed Adyani

The US Netflix catalogue of shows, for instance, is nearly three times of that on offer in the United Kingdom.

Aside from local taste, the real challenge for Netflix in offering a catalogue to pitch to Australians is that existing broadcasters, such as Foxtel, already have many distribution deals signed up.

Choice director of campaigns and communications Matt Levey said the launch of the new streaming services combined with the existing services available would put the power back into the hands of consumers.

“Consumers are going to have more opportunities to mix and match different services,” he said.

“It’s not as if a Netflix subscription is going to offer everything that a consumer wants in terms of paid content. We’re already seeing moves in the United States for HBO and Showtime to open up their content directly to consumers online.”

Madagascar movie spin-off ... Netflix is to screen DreamWorks Animation’s All Hail King Julien on its launch in Australia next March.

Netflix versus five streaming options

Netflix: Launching in Australia in March. Pricing yet to be announced but likely to be around $10-$15. Netflix has announced its Australian offering will include the TV shows Marco Polo, BoJack Horseman, Bloodlines and Marvel’s Daredevil. Its shows House of Cards and Orange is the New Black are currently on Foxtel and no announcements have been made about the rights for future series.

Stan: Due to launch early 2015, jointly owned by Nine Network and Fairfax. Has a deal with MGM and Sony Pictures which gives it streaming rights to TV shows Fargo, back catalogue of Breaking Bad and its spin off Better Call Saul. Expected to cost about $10 a month.

Quickflix: Quickflix offers a service available on computers, TVs, game consoles, smartphones and tablets from $9.90 a month although you play extra for premium TV and movies. Its catalogue of TV series includes BBC and HBO shows.

iTunes: Apple’s solution to television is the same as its solution to music: if you want it you can buy it from iTunes. You can rent movies from $5.99, or buy them outright. You can buy episodes of TV shows or the entire series. iTunes content can be watched on TV, tablets, smartphones and computers.

Presto and Foxtel Play: When Foxtel launched its movie-on-demand streaming service Presto, it initially priced it at $19.99 per month. That’s been dropped to $9.99 a month. You can watch the content on computers, tablets or TV through Chromecast. Foxtel’s other non-contract streaming service, Foxtel Play, offers both movies and TV content and is available on computers, game consoles, smartphone, tablet and some smart TVS. Packages start from $24 a month.

Google Play: Similar to Apple’s iTunes, this lets people download movies and TV content to their smart device. You pay for the content you buy rather than sign up for a monthly fee. You can rent a movie for $5.99.

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