Netflix Will Probably Launch In Australia On March 1, With House Of Cards Season 3

And that means it might be only one week away.

SMH has confirmed, via an interview with Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos, that the service will launch “next month” in Australia with House Of Cards‘ third season available on it. That season of House Of Cards is due to hit the US version of Netflix on February 27 — that’s the morning of the 28th of February here in Australia, and that points quite strongly to Netflix potentially launching that day, or at least in that week.

Here’s a thought, though — if Netflix launches just one day after the House Of Cards premiere, it’ll be a Monday, and it’ll be March 1. We don’t know exactly when Netflix is launching in Australia apart from the fact that it’ll be in March, but we’re led to believe that it’ll be sooner in March rather than later. March 1 is the logical date for these two factors to line up.

If those dates do line up, Netflix will be keeping its promises by launching in March, but it won’t delay long from the international release of House Of Cards. We know that staggered international releases mean piracy runs rampant, as well as restricting everyday Australians from being able to watch the series of shows that they have become familiar with through their previous availability on difference services.

Netflix has a bit of “local flavour” for its Australian service already confirmed, with a deal with Beyond Distribution bringing a bunch of Aussie stand-up comedians like Carl Barron, Kitty Flanagan, the Umbilical Brothers and others to the on-demand streaming service. It’s looking like the internationally popular streaming giant, which actually already has an established Australian user-base who access it illegitimately via VPN, will be a strong contender when it launches in Australia.

Interestingly, cable TV competitor Foxtel does not have the rights to this upcoming third season of House Of Cards, which means that it’ll probably be a Netflix exclusive and therefore, like Better Call Saul on Stan, a big drawcard for new sign-ups wanting to see their favourite show through whatever means possible.

[SMH]


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