Sri Lanka was one of the markets, along with dozens of other countries, where Netflix made their video streaming services available recently. Unless you have been living under a rock, you may have heard of Netflix, even if you are still not entirely sure what it is capable of. It’s a subscription service allowing unlimited access to listed TV shows and movies, on demand, from anywhere and on any device.
The big deal about Netflix – and other on demand video streaming services – is their time-shift ability. You can pick up on your phone while on the go from the point you left off watching an episode on your laptop. All Netflix’s media can be accessed by subscribers an unlimited number of times.
In the US and other big markets where Netflix has been available for some time, it offers a large line-up of shows. The service is ideal for binge-watching and is designed to take up as much of your time as possible, which it succeeds in by suggesting new shows after learning from what you like.
But there is a catch. Most shows available in the US and the network’s other big markets are unavailable in Sri Lanka. There are promises of a programme extension in Netflix’s new markets in 2016 when the rights for those shows and movies are cleared.
In fact, only some of Netflix’s own content is available here (original series) and very few movies from the major studios. Notably, Netflix original ‘House of Cards’, a global hit, is unavailable in Sri Lanka, but all three seasons of its fairly new hit ‘Orange is the New Black’ is available. If online music streaming wasn’t keeping Sri Lankans glued to their headsets and electronics devices, Netflix has the potential to do so for sometime, until you run out of new enough content to watch. This is a real danger especially for binge watchers. However, if one does run out of content, it’s simple to discontinue the subscription. Netflix users here can choose from a Basic ($7.99 per month) for standard definition video, Standard ($9.99 per month) for HD quality video or Premium ($11.99 per month) for Ultra-HD video plan. The service is available with a one-month free trial (unlike Hulu’s one week free) for users to access its not-so-vast library of commercial-free TV shows and movies. Just log in and watch instantly from any internet-connected device with a Netflix app – a computer, gaming console, DVD or Blu-ray player, HDTV, set-top box, home theatre system, phone, or tablet.
[pullquote]If online music streaming wasn’t keeping Sri Lankans glued to their headsets and electronics devices, Netflix has the potential to do so for sometime, until you run out of new enough content to watch[/pullquote]
Netflix plans to release 31 new and returning original series, 24 original feature films and documentaries, a wide range of stand-up comedy specials, and 30 original kids series this year. Video streams in SD take 300-700MB per hour, HD takes up to 3GB of data an hour and 4K Ultra HD takes 7GB per hour. In practice, a good ADSL or 4G connection is enough for HD-quality watching, while a 3G mobile connection can stream at SD quality. For Ultra HD, the connection needs to be up to 25Mbps, which is reliably available on fibre optic here in some areas around Colombo.
Although Netflix faces no direct competition in Sri Lanka, it will be trampling the toes of some service providers already present here. But with 70 million members across 190 countries, and more than 125 million hours of TV shows and movies including original series, documentaries and feature films, who can resist the urge to Netflix and, maybe, chill?
Netflix vs Apple TV
Apple has made media content available in Sri Lanka for some time, but its television portal, Apple TV, is popular only for its association with the holding company. The content, which needs to be either bought or rented to watch, leaves much to be desired.
Although Apple TV essentially turns any TV into a smart TV, the only worthwhile content thereafter is through third-party apps like Netflix, Hulu (in the US) and HBO NOW. With no original content, the absurdly priced Apple TV is more a content management platform.
Netflix vs Peo TV
Peo TV is the closest Sri Lanka has come to a local VOD service provider. Even in this sense, Peo TV is more a traditional TV with added interactivity features and some ‘on-demand’ services, which are also not available for every channel. Peo TV services include Time Shift TV, to store already-broadcast content to be viewed at a convenient time; Video on Demand, to select your choice of movies; T-learning, on-demand educational and video classes; and personalized services like messaging, voting and quizzes. (Interactivity features like pause, play and rewind are also not available on all channels.)
Also unlike Netflix, shows stored on Peo TV will remain in the server for one to two days at the most.
Netflix vs Google Play
The tech giant has its foot in everything from a search engine and a social media platform (Google+), to Google Play Books, Google Play Games, Google Play Newsstand and Google Play Music apps. If you use a Google account, you are already a Google Play Movies & TV user.
Google Play Movies & TV also has movies and TV shows for purchase or rent. However, TV shows are currently available only in the US, the UK, Japan, France, Germany, Canada and Australia. So Sri Lanka is yet to jump on the Google Play Movies & TV bandwagon.
What Google Play Movies & TV does have over Netflix is that some of its content is available for downloading for offline viewing. Netflix faced a lot of criticism towards the end of last year when Amazon Prime allowed subscribers to download movies and TV shows for offline viewing. The company’s defense was that it didn’t want to overload subscribers with too many options when they are deciding what (and how) to watch.
Netflix vs Hulu
Hulu is not available in Sri Lanka. But the service provider is worth a mention as it is perhaps Netflix’s biggest competitor worldwide, with nearly nine million subscribers, over 500 content partners and over 700 million hours of content streamed.
Hulu also recently announced a new commercial-free premium service along with a content agreement with cable network Epix, which Netflix recently parted with to focus on creating more original content.
To watch, sign up at https://www.netflix.com/lk/ (one month free)