VOD News Worldwide Round-Up (2014-2015)
Did you know?
– In January 2015, Netflix expanded to over 130 countries including Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Singapore, Vietnam, South Korea, Asia, Russia, Romania, Poland and Turkey. Netflix launched in Spain, Italy, and Portugal in October 2015 with plans to expand into India by this year. The only major market Netflix does not operate in currently is China.
– In March, a consortium with links to Richard Branson’s Virgin Group is looking into partnering with some of Australia’s major television networks to launch a subscription video on demand service, aimed at pre-empting the expected arrival of Netflix and potentially expand to seven countries without a Netflix presence. Hoyts Group, a cinema chain, also had early discussions with Seven West Media regarding a collaboration into an online VOD service.
– In Australia, Roy Morgan Research reported that Netflix has already surpassed all other competitors since launching in March 2015. According to their report, Netflix gathered 1,039,000 viewers in May 2015, which is much higher than other Australian online providers, including Presto, Stan, Quickflix and Foxtel Play.
– Showtime is now available for the first time as a stand-alone streaming service without a cable subscription. The premium service launched on July 8, 2015 through a partnership with Apple, Hulu, and Roku. Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and Roku users can subscribe to Showtime on the app anywhere in the U.S. and the service is accessible on all Apple devices as well as on Showtime’s website with additional platforms and providers to be added. Hulu also offers a subscription at a discounted rate for members. Subscribers to the streaming service have access to the live East and West coast feeds of Showtime and unlimited viewing of every season of its original series and movies, documentary and sports programming.
– In February 2014, Disney Studios launched Disney Movies Anywhere, a digital movie service with an app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, and can be accessed through Apple TV. Consumers can purchase movies exclusively through iTunes, drawing from a list of 420 movies from Disney, Pixar, and Marvel. Customers can also view previously purchased content, either bought from iTunes or digital copies of films that come with Disney Blu-ray Disc/DVD combo packs.
– Apple has shown that its “Services” division – the iTunes Store, App Store, and Apple Pay – increases revenue by 9% year over year to $5 billion. But its sales of books, music, movies, and TV shows in the iTunes Store actually declined by 4% for the third consecutive quarter, and 5% in the first six months of fiscal year 2015. Apple actually launched Apple Music last year, and a television subscription service similar to Netflix and Hulu is in the works.
– In October 2015, the newly launched service Filmin Latino debuted its app on Google Play & the Apple Store. The Spanish Over the Top (OTT) service provider Filmin and the Mexican Film Institute (IMCINE) launched Filmin Latino to distribute high-quality local and independent films, as well as recent documentaries produced by IMCINE, proprietary short films, and films from the 1970s and 1980s available for free.
– Google Play movie services are now available in 39 countries, including a number of countries in Central and South America, Europe, and Africa. With this expansion, Google Play Movies is now available to a total of about 60 countries around the world.
– In April 2015, Amazon announced Fire TV, a small black box which offers access to Amazon Prime Instant Video’s library of more than 200,000 titles to stream and rent to the subscriber for $99; it also includes voice search and the ability to upload photos via their Cloud Drive app. The Fire also features apps for competing streaming services such including Hulu, Netflix, and Crackle, plus TV networks ESPN and Showtime.
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