Australians keen to get on the Netflix bandwagon don’t have long to wait now, as it now has a release date, with the end of March to be seen as the beginning of Netflix’s take over of Australian living rooms.
Yes, the time has finally come for Netflix to start its invasion of TV consumption while at homes,sitting in the park watching TV shows, and catching up on that show you always said you’d watch while you’re stuck on the train home.
That’s because Netflix is launching in Australia on March 24, with the service to be made available in the living room via apps on several TVs from Samsung, Sony, LG, Panasonic, HiSense, and Philips, while the FetchTV second-gen set-top box will also see the app as will Apple’s “Apple TV” product.
Phones and tablets will see support, of course, making Netflix portable on Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, while Google’s Chromecast will be compatible too, making the portable work at home, too, but there’s more home goodness via game consoles, which will nab Netflix access too, rolling out to the Microsoft Xbox 360, Xbox One, Sony PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, and even the Nintendo Wii U, so no major console is spared.
“Many Aussies and Kiwis have heard a lot about Netflix over the years, and we’re excited they’ll get to experience our unique blend of Netflix original content, local series and films, and popular movies and TV shows from around the world, all for a low monthly price,” said Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.
And that low monthly price is… well, a little undisclosed at this time.
Netflix has sent word that it will be available at launch, and that gift cards will be available in denominations of $20, $30, and $50 at Aussie retailers, suggesting it could be $10 per month, so as to make the values of those gift cards worth what you actually put into the account.
We’ll certainly know soon enough, and in any case, some people may end up getting free access in general.
For instance, iiNet subscribers will receive free downloads from Netflix Australia, meaning anything you download from Netflix on the Australian service will not be attributed to your downloads per month.
“Offering our customers quota-free access to Netflix is yet another demonstration of iiNet’s commitment to providing our customers great, hassle-free entertainment experiences,” said David Buckingham, Chief Executive Officer of iiNet.
“iiNet is proud to facilitate consumers’ access to this great entertainment service.”
The ISP isn’t alone in offering something for nothing to its subscribers, with Vodafone also offering a few months of Netflix access for new subscribers to some of its plans, while Microsoft will offer three months access to new owners of the Xbox One from March 24.
“Xbox has a long association with Netflix around the world, and with this announcement we’re excited to bring our partnership to the millions of Xbox owners across Australia and New Zealand,” said Microsoft Australia’s Jeremy Hinton.
“With Xbox One we are committed to delivering the best entertainment experience in Australian and New Zealand living rooms.”
While pricing hasn’t yet been announced, we can report that there will be several plans, with single-stream standard definition available as an option, as well as two-stream HD, and even a four-stream 4K capable UHD plan included.
We’ll know what the details on these are soon enough, closer to the release on March 24, but hey, it’s good news for those of you with 4K TVs, as you’ll finally have something to watch on them.
