# Understanding Netflix



## Dommak89 (Feb 4, 2015)

Hi folks,

The all-mighty Netflix has now also risen in our country (Germany). And I became addicted instantly (wasn't really surprising since I love watching TV shows). However, there were a few things I was wondering about and I thought I ask you American users, or any other Netflix veteran since you may have more knowledge than I do.

1. What's Netflix policy on adding new seasons for a show? I was wondering because I started watching Sons of Anarchy, and I know there are 7 seasons, yet there are only 3 on Netflix. Is this a German thing, or is it common in the US as well? Will the rest be uploaded as well?
2. How long does it usually take them to release a new season? I know they just release a whole season of a show, but how long after the initial broadcast is a season released on Netflix?
3. (and this one goes out to any non-US Netflix users) How is the variety of shows in your country? Does it come close to the US version?


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## Demiurge (Feb 4, 2015)

Honestly, I'm not really sure if they have a standard procedure- or specifically that _can_ have one- because it's dependent on both the show's studio's release schedule and probably licensing negotiations with Netflix themselves. I haven't started SoA yet, so I don't know what they have here in the US for seasons, but there might be some regional differences as I hear that Netflix in Canada has a totally different set of offerings. FX is kind of sluggish on releases- even for on-demand episodes for their current seasons- so who knows.

I still love having Netflix, but their selections can be odd. They made a big deal about carrying the entirety of the sitcom "Friends" at the beginning of the year, possibly to cover up the fact that 95% of their content consists of 5th-tier zombie movies and documentaries on the Mayan calendar.


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## monkeybike (Feb 4, 2015)

Some show seasons get posted up before the latest season starts. Like they put up Helix from Syfy pretty quickly probably to generate interest in the upcoming (at the time) season. Other shows sit in limbo probably waiting for DVD sales to sputter out. I enjoy American Dad and that has been somewhere like 3 seasons behind for so long now.


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## MaxOfMetal (Feb 4, 2015)

Netflix is, unfortunately, at the mercy of the large studios who produce and air movies and TV shows, they are bound by strict licensing agreements on what they can have available for streaming. 

As most can tell the quality of unoriginal content has been getting worse and worse each year and season. Why? They're simply not the only fish in the sea anymore. They have to compete from both ends, guys with all the money and connections like Amazon and Hulu and from the bottom from small timers like Crackle. Netflix had a TON of success early on and it went to their heads, now they don't have the cash flow to keep things exclusive or snatch the rights earlier than the others. 

I still do enjoy Netflix and I try to keep up on what's coming and going each quarter. Though, if you ask me, Amazon Prime is a much better deal, even at the pricier $100 they're asking now. That's still only ~$8.34 a month and you get the added benefit of Amazon Music (which is getting better, slowly) and tons of shipping discounts. I do most shopping online so I've probably saved at least $500 in shipping over the last couple years. 

Hulu is getting better too.


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## MFB (Feb 4, 2015)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Hulu is getting better too.



Problem with Hulu is:

A. For a while they had issues with having only certain seasons of shows online to watch, vs. the entire catalogue, which at that point - why bother putting stuff on there?

B. We're paying you $9/month to watch the shows, get rid of your god damn ads in the middle of it; or do one up-front and one at the end. What's the point of using Hulu to "avoid cable" as so many people do when there's still ads in the service you're already paying for. Just sell ad-space on the website, not during the broadcast.


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## MaxOfMetal (Feb 4, 2015)

MFB said:


> Problem with Hulu is:
> 
> A. For a while they had issues with having only certain seasons of shows online to watch, vs. the entire catalogue, which at that point - why bother putting stuff on there?
> 
> B. We're paying you $9/month to watch the shows, get rid of your god damn ads in the middle of it; or do one up-front and one at the end. What's the point of using Hulu to "avoid cable" as so many people do when there's still ads in the service you're already paying for. Just sell ad-space on the website, not during the broadcast.



Hence the getting better part, they're getting more shows and more importantly they're starting to make deals to acquire entire back catalogs nearly indefinitely. 

They say the commercials help them subsidize the free Hulu service, they're the only pay service with a free option, but I'd argue that removing the commercials would up the paid subscription numbers. 

Of note, they're also working on bringing content from multiple sources together. A good example is what they're trying to do with a lot of the network television. Instead of going to three or four individual sites everything syncing up with Hulu. 

If they keep it up, they'll be the best bargain out there pretty soon.


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## ferret (Feb 4, 2015)

For Hulu, I could deal with either issue A or issue B. But not both. I'm fine with having some ads (Excessiveness being a personal line in the sand), if I have content, you know? Full back catalogs, etc.

But if I can't even watch the whole show if I want, and I'm paying you, AND i'm watching ads... Fix one or the other.

(Currently not a Hulu subscriber as a result of this. Amazon and Netflix)


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## Grief (Feb 4, 2015)

Netflix seems to have a more stable roster, whereas Amazon Prime seems to chop and change what's free and what's not pretty often. It's a real pain in the ass if you have kids who want to watch not just the same show, but the same specific episodes over again and you suddenly have to pay for them. Seems like a bit of profiteering f/ex to have season 1 & 2 of Bubble Guppies up for free and pay for season 3 and then make season 1 paid-for too.

We also were in the middle of watching some different Scandi-noir shows when they suddenly pulled the _entire genre_ from Prime. One we were watching was Maria Wern and suddenly it's $4.99 an episode.

I still get good value form Prime but it certainly doesn't seem like the same deal it was when we signed up for it last May.


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## MaxOfMetal (Feb 4, 2015)

Grief said:


> Netflix seems to have a more stable roster, whereas Amazon Prime seems to chop and change what's free and what's not pretty often. It's a real pain in the ass if you have kids who want to watch not just the same show, but the same specific episodes over again and you suddenly have to pay for them. Seems like a bit of profiteering f/ex to have season 1 & 2 of Bubble Guppies up for free and pay for season 3 and then make season 1 paid-for too.
> 
> We also were in the middle of watching some different Scandi-noir shows when they suddenly pulled the _entire genre_ from Prime. One we were watching was Maria Wern and suddenly it's $4.99 an episode.
> 
> I still get good value form Prime but it certainly doesn't seem like the same deal it was when we signed up for it last May.



It's not arbitrary, like Netflix, Amazon is bound by deals behind the scenes regarding the content they don't own. Sure, Amazon could probably spend the cash to keep the owners of the media happy, but there's no economy in that. 

These subscription services aren't the key to the kingdom, unfortunately. The only way to guarantee ownership of media is to straight up buy it, more specifically a digital format.


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## wankerness (Feb 4, 2015)

Dommak89 said:


> 1. What's Netflix policy on adding new seasons for a show? I was wondering because I started watching Sons of Anarchy, and I know there are 7 seasons, yet there are only 3 on Netflix. Is this a German thing, or is it common in the US as well? Will the rest be uploaded as well?
> 2. How long does it usually take them to release a new season? I know they just release a whole season of a show, but how long after the initial broadcast is a season released on Netflix?
> 3. (and this one goes out to any non-US Netflix users) How is the variety of shows in your country? Does it come close to the US version?



1. They usually have everything but the season that just aired here in the US. I can't really say why it's like that there in Germany. I'd expect they'd get them eventually, especially if the service becomes popular.

2. In the limited experience that I have with this, the season usually goes up on netflix a few months after it came out on DVD, which usually is somewhere in the area of the next season starting. The studios surely want to make netflix wait a while so as to lose fewer DVD sales to Netflix, and usually neither happens until close to when the new season airs cause that would cut into re-runs I guess.

3. I can only speak for Canada, whose Netflix was absolutely terrible the time I tried using it about a year and a half ago. My estimate would be that they had a tenth of the stuff on the US version, if that. I'd expect Germany's selection to be better, you guys are the country that has by far the most active blu-ray market (probably because your economy is good and regular people are able to waste money on videos while we all have been getting progressively poorer in the US for a while and thus sales are rock-bottom compared to DVD sales 10 years ago) so I'd expect Netflix demand to be higher too. But maybe that's not a safe assumption, cause you aren't like us Americans trying to save money by being at the mercy of Netflix's random posting and taking down of movies/TV shows.


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## Grief (Feb 4, 2015)

MaxOfMetal said:


> It's not arbitrary, like Netflix, Amazon is bound by deals behind the scenes regarding the content they don't own. Sure, Amazon could probably spend the cash to keep the owners of the media happy, but there's no economy in that.
> 
> These subscription services aren't the key to the kingdom, unfortunately. The only way to guarantee ownership of media is to straight up buy it, more specifically a digital format.




Totally agree, but when you're a relatively new customer and there is a statement to the effect that _occasionally items are removed from the library due to licensing_ and then you see literally an entire genre disappear (which i'm aware is likely tied to one distributor) it does leave you feeling short-changed. I've noticed bait & switch is a popular term in the USA and it does feel a little like that. And with the kids cartoons that are years old it does feel like they are using the service as a trail/teaser for things to sell back to you once the kids are into them. 

It's a bit like when you leave items in your Amazon cart and suddenly the price shoots up dramatically overnight. You kinda wonder what the algorithm behind it is and whether you putting it in the cart in the first place caused the increase. With digital content I guess the license may be limited to a certain number of views, but it does also make you wonder if the number of views is being used as a gauge of popularity in order to pull the service at its peak potential resale point. I just haven't noticed this phenomenon of pulling shows on netflix yet and of course their model is different.


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## flint757 (Feb 5, 2015)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Netflix is, unfortunately, at the mercy of the large studios who produce and air movies and TV shows, they are bound by strict licensing agreements on what they can have available for streaming.
> 
> As most can tell the quality of unoriginal content has been getting worse and worse each year and season. Why? They're simply not the only fish in the sea anymore. They have to compete from both ends, guys with all the money and connections like Amazon and Hulu and from the bottom from small timers like Crackle. Netflix had a TON of success early on and it went to their heads, now they don't have the cash flow to keep things exclusive or snatch the rights earlier than the others.
> 
> ...



I just use all 3. Amazon prime I use the least though mostly because I hate the way their app is organized. I usually just do Netflix and Hulu for the current shows. I also have the Amazon Firestick and again the interface is awful. They did fix it so that Prime content was segregated off, but when the original FireTV was first released the paid for and free stuff were just jumbled together. It was impossible to sort through. Amazon spends a lot of effort forcing you into spending more money at their website. Understandable, but still super annoying.



MFB said:


> Problem with Hulu is:
> 
> A. For a while they had issues with having only certain seasons of shows online to watch, vs. the entire catalogue, which at that point - why bother putting stuff on there?
> 
> B. We're paying you $9/month to watch the shows, get rid of your god damn ads in the middle of it; or do one up-front and one at the end. What's the point of using Hulu to "avoid cable" as so many people do when there's still ads in the service you're already paying for. Just sell ad-space on the website, not during the broadcast.



I'm really upset that almost everything on Hulu has transitioned to the '5 episodes at a time' model. I've intentionally avoided starting several shows because I couldn't watch the first few episodes. I can live with the ads, but it does feels like the number of ads per episode went up a lot on some of their content.



Grief said:


> I've noticed bait & switch is a popular term in the USA and it does feel a little like that.



Amazon is the absolute worst across the board when it comes to bait and switch tactics (not exactly what they're doing, but it stings about the same way). First season free, second $2.99 per episode, Album 1 free with prime, rest of the catalog purchase only, Prime Video only available on Amazon devices, etc.

The only reason I keep it is because I love the 2 day free shipping and if you aren't looking for something specific in the e-books or music then the free content is more than acceptable.


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## MFB (Feb 5, 2015)

I haven't put any effort into using Amazon's media apps but after everything I've read/heard about them, I'm not looking to either anymore. Which is a shame because if someone could combine the awesome ability of having back-catalogs like Netflix and the next-day viewing of current season shows like Hulu, they'd dominate the market. Unfortunately, that companies downfall would most likely be a shitty UI so nobody would want to even try and use it


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## pushpull7 (Feb 5, 2015)

It's a mixed bag. Get what you can out of it for the money.


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## yingmin (Feb 5, 2015)

I subscribe to Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime and Netflix, and I'm really beginning to question why. I can't tell you how many times none of them had what I was looking for. Back to the Future? Out of luck. Indiana Jones? Crystal Skull, if you're lucky (by an implausibly loose definition of the word). Blade Runner? Lawrence of Arabia? Life of Brian? No, No and No. I'm not looking for obscure foreign cinema, for the most part. These are extremely beloved and/or acclaimed movies, and NOBODY has the rights to stream them? I've had better luck finding movies I want to watch by combing the discount DVD bins in Best Buy.



flint757 said:


> Amazon is the absolute worst across the board when it comes to bait and switch tactics (not exactly what they're doing, but it stings about the same way). First season free, second $2.99 per episode, Album 1 free with prime, rest of the catalog purchase only, Prime Video only available on Amazon devices, etc.


Actually, that's no so much bait and switch as it is the classic drug dealer "first hit is free".


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## flint757 (Feb 5, 2015)

yingmin said:


> Actually, that's no so much bait and switch as it is the classic drug dealer "first hit is free".



Yup. 

That's a much better description for sure...


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## Dommak89 (Feb 5, 2015)

flint757 said:


> The only reason I keep it is because I love the 2 day free shipping and if you aren't looking for something specific in the e-books or music then the free content is more than acceptable.


That's why I use it. I got Prime way before they started their streaming service (here in Germany). So when they said I get to see free movies and TV shows and shit, I was like: "Damn that's a cool feature." Still I'm no fan of it when it comes to TV shows. At least here in Germany the variety of shows and movies isn't as big as I would want it to be. But then again, I'm not complaining. I use it every other month or so.



wankerness said:


> 1. They usually have everything but the season that just aired here in the US. I can't really say why it's like that there in Germany. I'd expect they'd get them eventually, especially if the service becomes popular.


Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for.



> 2. In the limited experience that I have with this, the season usually goes up on netflix a few months after it came out on DVD, which usually is somewhere in the area of the next season starting. The studios surely want to make netflix wait a while so as to lose fewer DVD sales to Netflix, and usually neither happens until close to when the new season airs cause that would cut into re-runs I guess.


Hmm ok, well I hope Netflix Germany is oriented towards the US release dates, since we always have to wait for the overdubs (and I don't even watch these shows in German ...).



> 3. I can only speak for Canada, whose Netflix was absolutely terrible the time I tried using it about a year and a half ago. My estimate would be that they had a tenth of the stuff on the US version, if that. I'd expect Germany's selection to be better, you guys are the country that has by far the most active blu-ray market (probably because your economy is good and regular people are able to waste money on videos while we all have been getting progressively poorer in the US for a while and thus sales are rock-bottom compared to DVD sales 10 years ago) so I'd expect Netflix demand to be higher too. But maybe that's not a safe assumption, cause you aren't like us Americans trying to save money by being at the mercy of Netflix's random posting and taking down of movies/TV shows.


Haha I'm not sure man. Yes, we do have a strong economy, so maybe you'll be right. However, my experience, when it comes to US exports is that we have to wait waaay too long.



MaxOfMetal said:


> Netflix is, unfortunately, at the mercy of the large studios who produce and air movies and TV shows, they are bound by strict licensing agreements on what they can have available for streaming.
> (...)
> 
> Hulu is getting better too.



So what you're saying is, that Netflix rents the rights for a TV show? Still I don't see how you would sign a contract that says "you're getting this TV show, but let's discuss terms of this for each season of this show." But maybe it is that way.

Also I can't get Hulu, or net yet anyways. We'll see if they make it to Europe.


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## MaxOfMetal (Feb 5, 2015)

Dommak89 said:


> So what you're saying is, that Netflix rents the rights for a TV show? Still I don't see how you would sign a contract that says "you're getting this TV show, but let's discuss terms of this for each season of this show." But maybe it is that way.



This is kinda how it goes, since none of streaming sites really own most of these wanted shows and movies. They have to negotiate with the owners of the properties, who of course want the most money for thier content. 

For instance, say a show that was produced by Paramount Entertainment is in its third season. It's built up a strong following and is taking off. Netflix sees that the show is well received and things adding it to their catalog is a good financial decision. Now, they approach Paramount Entertainment and ask them for airing rights and all that implies. Since the show is still running and they plan to add at least one more season they're going to want to have to consider a few things before they settle on a price: the value of the show itself, how much revenue will they make in syndication, how much they'll make on DVD sales, etc. Now they figure that in order to not stifle thier own residual profits they need to both charge a certain amount and make it so that the shows licensing is limited so they can still control the release of content. Netflix then has to choose between paying a lot more money to have more favorable licensing or to pay less but retain fewer episodes, larger release time lines, etc. 

It doesn't matter if it's a new show or old show, everything has value and is owned by at least one party that wants to continue making money off it.


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## Demiurge (Feb 5, 2015)

^To illustrate that point, I remember hearing that Netflix paid $2M _per episode_ for The Blacklist. They must think it's worth it.

EDIT: And... yup, just checked & confirmed. $44M for the first season.


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## UV7BK4LIFE (Feb 5, 2015)

Dommak89 said:


> How is the variety of shows in your country? Does it come close to the US version?



I don't know the US version so I can't compare. I like the variety of shows, it's actually better than regular TV. Because it saves time and money.

I canceled my cable TV subscription. No more commercials, reality shows and similar nonsense. No more ten year old comedy movies that were aired 600 times already.

The only thing I miss are the 3 Dutch national channels, I watch those on my computer.


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## Dommak89 (Feb 6, 2015)

UV7BK4LIFE said:


> I canceled my cable TV subscription. No more commercials, reality shows and similar nonsense. No more ten year old comedy movies that were aired 600 times already.
> 
> The only thing I miss are the 3 Dutch national channels, I watch those on my computer.


I guess we're in the same boat. Germany's program is the same, but as a Dutch, you might have watched a German channel at one point or another. It's the same shit. I rarely watch TV anymore because of the reasons you named.

What makes me furious though is that some broadcasting stations actually get new TV shows, but they don't buy the good shit, but the 10th CSI knock-off or the next show that wants to be Emergency Room. And then all those re-runs. I love the Simpsons, yet there are episodes I've seen 100 times and then there are some I haven't watched at all. I hate Germany's TV policy. And it's getting worse and worse.


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## Overtone (Feb 7, 2015)

There are 6 seasons of SoA in the US Netflix. 

There is supposed to be some way to watch "any country" Netflix. Dunno if it's limited to watching on a Pc or not as it involves a proxy. Look into it!


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## Demiurge (Feb 8, 2015)

Overtone said:


> There are 6 seasons of SoA in the US Netflix.
> 
> There is supposed to be some way to watch "any country" Netflix. Dunno if it's limited to watching on a Pc or not as it involves a proxy. Look into it!



I saw something about a browser extension (I don't know if it's technically a not-legal thing so I don't want to name it or link it in case it violates policy here), but alas, I use a Roku. I'd like to think that in the US we have the most episodes of Ancient Aliens anyway, so I'm not upset.


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## Dommak89 (Feb 9, 2015)

Demiurge said:


> I saw something about a browser extension (I don't know if it's technically a not-legal thing so I don't want to name it or link it in case it violates policy here), but alas, I use a Roku. I'd like to think that in the US we have the most episodes of Ancient Aliens anyway, so I'm not upset.


Dude, I love you man, for reminding me of that. I knew I read it somewhere, but didn't remember it when I started using Netflix. It works btw, so now I'm able to watch 6 seasons of SoA and tons of new Material. Sometimes it's buggy though, but I don't care.


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## Explorer (Feb 9, 2015)

Grief said:


> I still get good value form Prime but it certainly doesn't seem like the same deal it was when we signed up for it last May.



It's definitely gotten worse over the past few years.

I went on the Amazon Prime website and looked at the moves which had been added over the past 60 days on Christmas. No new releases, a lot of old black and white westerns, and kid shows.

I'm on the fence about renewing when my current term ends, and with the problems I've had with their Prime two-day shipping, I'm leaning towards no.



MaxOfMetal said:


> The only way to guarantee ownership of media is to straight up buy it, more specifically a digital format.



I regularly buy scratched/damaged but guaranteed-to-play DVDs at local stores for $2 or less. I started converting them using Handbrake for my iPad, and found that I could watch them by plugging the harddrive into my LG Blu-Ray player. 

I've got an old XP machine just chugging through the DVD collection, with about 4 to 6 movies being converted a day, and I find I'm watching the content I personally chose much more than I watch Netflix and Amazon. 

It's nice having the movie easily cued up, instead of having to paw through the shelves.


Overtone said:


> There is supposed to be some way to watch "any country" Netflix. Dunno if it's limited to watching on a Pc or not as it involves a proxy. Look into it!





Demiurge said:


> I saw something about a browser extension (I don't know if it's technically a not-legal thing so I don't want to name it or link it in case it violates policy here), but alas, I use a Roku.



I didn't know about a browser extension, but I do know of people who route their US subscription through a proxy server when they're traveling. That way, they can watch their video services when they're in a country where Netflix and Amazon Prime won't allow them to watch the content they're paying for while on the road.


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## thrsher (Mar 10, 2015)

Overtone said:


> There are 6 seasons of SoA in the US Netflix.
> 
> There is supposed to be some way to watch "any country" Netflix. Dunno if it's limited to watching on a Pc or not as it involves a proxy. Look into it!



they are suspending accounts that get caught doing it. when i was on vaction upstate NY, i was in the middle of watching arrow, i then went to canada for two days and couldn't watch it because it was not available there. i was pissed and i did mask my DNS with google chrome and it worked


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## TedEH (Mar 10, 2015)

thrsher said:


> they are suspending accounts that get caught doing it.



That's the first I've heard of anyone getting suspended for that reason. I know a lot of Canadians trick their way into the US Netflix site one way or another but I've never heard of anyone getting caught before. If that's actually happening, it's good to know.


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## Dcm81 (May 6, 2015)

If it's still of any interest: Netflix in Germany is unfortulately nowhere near the release dates of the US. We have to wait roughly until the dubbed DVD/Blu release here in Germany before it becomes available on a streaming site. The exception are of course the self produced series like Better Call Saul, Daredevil etc. And of course when Watchever aired the final season of Breaking Bad on the same day the episode aired in the US!!! Now that was AWESOME!
I think this "proxy" stuff people are talking about is called Turboflix, which I tried for 1 month. The impression I got, was that one had all of Netflix globally separated content bundled in one place. Not so good if you don't understand enough english but a really great selection to choose from. Once again though, no real new Blockbuster movies although for us in Germany it does kind of equate to the equivalent because the US releases are so much earlier than ours.
Wierd thing about Turboflix though: I can only pay per credit card. When I tried to pay with PayPal the payment was declined, stating that the receiver of the payment was not guaranteed to be trustworthy or something along those lines.....?


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## soliloquy (May 6, 2015)

one thing that really irritates me about netflix is its randomness in show availability and episodes. 

ie: they HAD each and every season of top gear on it about a month ago. now what is the point of having each and every seasons when you only have 1 episode per season and ignore the rest....for example, some seasons have 7 episodes, yet netflix only has 5 episodes of that season, but they have the full season of the following seasons...

another thing that irritates me is that netflix would randomly add a show, only for it to disappear, and then added again. (same goes for movies too)


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## mongey (May 6, 2015)

dont worry. you got the best of SoA in the first 2 seasons


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## DoctorLard7 (May 10, 2015)

a VPN is the usual way of getting geoblocked content, such as the superior US Netflix, perfectly legal, but the studios etc hate it.


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## wankerness (May 10, 2015)

DoctorLard7 said:


> a VPN is the usual way of getting geoblocked content, such as the superior US Netflix, perfectly legal, but the studios etc hate it.



Explain how circumventing international rights laws by pretending to be from another country is perfectly legal. I'm all for people doing this cause I think international rights are often insane and benefit no one other than greedy execs, but to pretend it's "perfectly legal" is ridiculous.

EDIT: Since I guess this probably isn't common knowledge, basically the way rights for movies/TV shows work is that the rights for each country have to be bought individually, and may not even be held by the same person. For example, with old UK-produced Hammer horror flicks, Studiocanal owns rights to many of them in Europe, while the very same movies are split up between Sony and MGM in the US, because when they were originally released theatrically back in the 1960s, different US studios were paying for the rights to distribute them. SO basically, if Netflix wanted to put them on the US service, they'd have to go pay Sony and MGM for the rights to do so, but if they wanted to put them on the UK service, they'd have to go pay Studiocanal! 

With modern stuff, the rights are at least less-complex in that you're probably not going to have different studios holding the rights to the same movie in different countries, but you will have studios charging by the country. So, while Netflix might have paid for the rights to include a movie on the US service, they often wouldn't bother paying the additional amount for the rights to stream the same movie in Germany. I'm guessing this probably works in reverse occasionally, with movies that are more popular overseas not being put on the US service (partly because the rights to distribute something in Germany are invariably cheaper than they are to distribute in the United States), but more likely it's going to be the opposite. They're a US based company and thus smaller markets are obviously going to get the shaft thanks to rights holders demanding additional money for every additional country.

This is obviously why pretending to be from a different country to bypass rights laws is frowned upon. If Netflix doesn't show that they're making every attempt to stop this, they're going to piss off the rights-holders bigtime. If Netflix didn't pay the studio for the right to show Transformers 3 or whatever in Germany, then obviously if they just shrug when someone in Germany watches it, they're violating whatever contract they signed which said they were only allowed to stream it to the US.


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## wankerness (May 10, 2015)

Dcm81 said:


> If it's still of any interest: Netflix in Germany is unfortulately nowhere near the release dates of the US. We have to wait roughly until the dubbed DVD/Blu release here in Germany before it becomes available on a streaming site. The exception are of course the self produced series like Better Call Saul, Daredevil etc. And of course when Watchever aired the final season of Breaking Bad on the same day the episode aired in the US!!! Now that was AWESOME!
> I think this "proxy" stuff people are talking about is called Turboflix, which I tried for 1 month. The impression I got, was that one had all of Netflix globally separated content bundled in one place. Not so good if you don't understand enough english but a really great selection to choose from. Once again though, no real new Blockbuster movies although for us in Germany it does kind of equate to the equivalent because the US releases are so much earlier than ours.
> Wierd thing about Turboflix though: I can only pay per credit card. When I tried to pay with PayPal the payment was declined, stating that the receiver of the payment was not guaranteed to be trustworthy or something along those lines.....?



Paypal definitely tries to flag sites that are reported to be doing illegal stuff (like Turboflix) as non-reliable and blocks payment. You'll probably have to wait for them to get a new paypal address that paypal hasn't associated with them yet. I had huge problems trying to buy from Green Man Gaming using paypal - shadiness tends to cause problems. 

http://www.itbusiness.ca/news/netfl...etter-to-virtual-border-hopping-service/53321


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## DoctorLard7 (May 11, 2015)

wankerness said:


> Explain how circumventing international rights laws by pretending to be from another country is perfectly legal. I'm all for people doing this cause I think international rights are often insane and benefit no one other than greedy execs, but to pretend it's "perfectly legal" is ridiculous.
> 
> EDIT: Since I guess this probably isn't common knowledge, basically the way rights for movies/TV shows work is that the rights for each country have to be bought individually, and may not even be held by the same person. For example, with old UK-produced Hammer horror flicks, Studiocanal owns rights to many of them in Europe, while the very same movies are split up between Sony and MGM in the US, because when they were originally released theatrically back in the 1960s, different US studios were paying for the rights to distribute them. SO basically, if Netflix wanted to put them on the US service, they'd have to go pay Sony and MGM for the rights to do so, but if they wanted to put them on the UK service, they'd have to go pay Studiocanal!
> 
> ...



they are completely legal, rights holders hate them though and try to paint them in a bad light, as can be seen in New Zealand at the moment with the usual rights holding geriatrics taking ISPs to court to try and get them to remove the VPNs that are included with their services.


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## Dommak89 (May 11, 2015)

I just recently read an Interview with netflix founder and CEO, Reed Hastings, and it was quite interesting. In approx. 3 years, he says, most of Europe will have almost have the same stuff on netflix as the US. Still there are a few shows where other companys of licencing rights (e.g. House of Cards and the PayTV company Sky). Other than that they will try to release as much as possible in Europe as well.

Here's the interview (though it's in German) D-Internet-Unternehmen-Film-Medien: Netflix-Chef: ARD und ZDF braucht kein Mensch - Nachrichten - DIE WELT


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## wankerness (May 11, 2015)

DoctorLard7 said:


> they are completely legal, rights holders hate them though and try to paint them in a bad light, as can be seen in New Zealand at the moment with the usual rights holding geriatrics taking ISPs to court to try and get them to remove the VPNs that are included with their services.



VPNs are legal. Doing illegal things with a VPN is not legal. That's like saying downloading stuff off torrent sites is legal because having an internet connection is legal.


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## mongey (May 11, 2015)

I've had netfilx the last couple months since the australian launch and I think it was a pretty strong launch content wise. but they need to keep stepping it up and add stuff

like I recently rewatched firefly 1st season with my wife and we were oging to buy the 2nd on dvd to reawtch and when we open netflix we saw firelfy . awesome. no need to buy. but then we realise they only have the 1st season on there . On an old show like that why only have the 1st season ? doesnt make much sense


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## MaxOfMetal (May 11, 2015)

ITT:

Someone: "Why does/doesn't Netflix have show/season X?" 

Someone Else: "Because rights holders/money."

Someone Further: "I don't understand why Netflix doesn't have X."


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## flint757 (May 11, 2015)

mongey said:


> I've had netfilx the last couple months since the australian launch and I think it was a pretty strong launch content wise. but they need to keep stepping it up and add stuff
> 
> like I recently rewatched firefly 1st season with my wife and we were oging to buy the 2nd on dvd to reawtch and when we open netflix we saw firelfy . awesome. no need to buy. but then we realise they only have the 1st season on there . On an old show like that why only have the 1st season ? doesnt make much sense



I'm pretty sure they only ever made one season of Firefly. It got cancelled way back when.


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