SUBSCRIBERS TO movie and TV streaming service Netflix, which is available in Ireland since yesterday, will have to wait for more than a year before some high-profile cinema releases become available on its site.
Netflix is offering an all-in streaming service for €6.99 a month, which will give subscribers unlimited access to its library of films and television shows.
The company has agreements with various US television production companies and networks that allow it to offer up to 10,000 different shows to its customers.
It has agreements with MGM, whose big release this year will be Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Hobbit; Lionsgate, which produced The Expendables; and Momentum, which backs independent films and which produced Shame, starring Irish actor Michael Fassbender.
It also has arrangements with majors such as Universal, Sony, Disney and Paramount, but these deals mean subscribers will have to wait until after pay-TV release before their productions become available.
Sky, one of the big digital TV platforms available in Ireland, has the right to screen their productions first.
This delay means a wait of up to 15 months before customers can watch productions such as Steven Spielberg's War Horse, tipped to take the best picture gong at February's Oscars.
Head of content, Ted Sarandos, argued yesterday that films such as War Horseare likely to draw a lot of their audience to the cinema in the first place.
He said for those who wait, the advantage of Netflix is it allows subscribers to watch it when they want and on a range of devices.
Mr Sarandos said the company offers a tens of thousands of films through its service, and there is unlimited access for subscribers.
Chief executive Reed Hastings said the company is in a position to bid against rivals such as Sky for film and TV rights as they become available. On that basis, he said existing deals between producers and distributors who compete with Netflix arrangements “may not last forever”.
It has recently struck deals with British broadcasters such as the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, that will give access to dramas produced by these operations.
However, it has no relationship with HBO, best known here for The Sopranosand Sex and the Cityand its current hit, Boardwalk Empire, which is available here only through Sky Atlantic.
According to Mr Sarandos, it will offer Irish viewers TV shows such as Dexter, Breaking Badand the revived Arrested Development.
Netflix offers full seasons of the shows as opposed to the catch-up service available on the internet from the channels themselves.
The company has operations in 47 countries and regions, including the US, Canada and Latin America.
