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LAS VEGAS — While television viewers have been able to CNN and BBC News in virtually any location in the world, there hasn’t been a corresponding Internet streaming provider available worldwide. Until Jan. 6, that is.
That provider would be Los Gatos, Calif.-based Netflix, which in a brilliant bit of showmanship, added 130 new countries to its availability scope while CEO Reed Hastings stood onstage doing a keynote address to several thousand CES attendees.
The news means that Netflix’s total nation count is currently at 190. Arabic, Korean, and Chinese language support has been added to the 17 languages that were previously supported.
If the term “global domination” still means anything in this Internet age, Netflix can rightfully claim some of that when it comes to on-demand television services through streaming video. Hastings announced that Netflix is now available in countries that include emerging markets such as India, Russia, Nigeria, Indonesia, and Azerbaijan as well as developed markets such as Poland, Turkey Singapore and South Korea.
“While you have been listening to me talk, the Netflix service has gone live in nearly every country of the world but China—where we hope to also be in the future,” Hastings said.
Hastings didn’t explain what the company’s status currently is in China, because that would have to be among the most complicated deals of all to make, given the intrusion by the Communist government into all media properties.
However, taking into account all the other international successes Netflix has had this past year, it is reasonable to believe that there might be some good news in 2016 coming from that part of the world for the company.