When the Australian version of Netflix launched overnight, the key question for many was how exactly it differs from its American counterpart. An estimated 200,000 Aussies currently access the US Netflix via VPNs, which raised the question of whether or not to switch over.
So, are we getting screwed out of a whole lot of sweet, sweet content, or are we doing okay?
A Sydney software developer by the name of Kenneth Tsang, who definitely deserves a round of applause, has taken a lot of the guesswork out of it, by creating a spreadsheet that compares exactly what’s available on either service.
He concluded that, all told, Australia has 7000 fewer pieces of available content than America, a not insignificant chunk. We do, however, have 693 unique items of content, and around 187 common between here, America and Canada.
The spreadsheet makes for an interesting read. Just from skimming it, we’ve discovered that, presumably due to rights reasons, the Australian does not yet have shows like Friday Night Lights, How I Met Your Mother or It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.
Despite concerns that they might not be available at launch, though, Australia does get Netflix exclusives, like House Of Cards, Orange Is The New Black, Arrested Development and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Per Fairfax Netflix executives are adamant that we should not look at this as the full catalogue, as new content will be added every few weeks, and “sometimes every day.”
The service announced its pricing structure yesterday, with packages starting from $8.99 a month.
