Team-BHP - Netflix: Now in India

I've used Netflix for years now - sharing with 3 other friends using a DNS service. It is cheaper using a DNS service and paying for Netflix US though!

But the irritating thing is the FUP limits. If I was to binge watch a series on a weekend, there goes my FUP. This is the only irritating thing. But it is nice to have a completely legal option for streaming movies now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 3885530)

Netflix movie quality sucks!

Sorry, but that is the harsh truth and I say this after using Netflix for 1.5 years. They have a sprinkle of A+ movies, some A- movies, but mostly B & C grade flicks. You will barely find any blockbusters on Netflix.

From the movie studio's point of view, movies are usually released in this order: Theatres -> DVD -> Online purchase (e.g. iTunes) -> Satellite TV -> Netflix and the like. Basically, when there is no other revenue stream left, a movie will make it to Netflix. It's the last option for any movie studio.

If you are particular about what you watch, you'll get bored of Netflix. At times, it used to take me 20 - 30 minutes to find a 90 minute movie worth watching on Netflix.

What I recommend: The best movies are on TV! Just buy a recording box from Tata Sky / your provider and set a recording schedule.

Netflix works on 'LONG TAIL' business model. they focus on licensing a large number of niche movies that are rented infrequently. the agregated revenue is the focus which, as results show, is quite high already. The few HIT content draws the crowd for subscription and Retains the patronage via Not-so-popular content which is anyway licensed for lower via bulk licensing.

They don't care if some of the content is never rented ever. Their net maintenance cost is anyway minimal.

this applies world over. Content differs from Geo-Geo due to regional licensing etc. to maximise my usage, I've been wanting to see the India content on my Finnish Subscription. not happening. They are willing to oblige though.

I think internationally Netflix is more popular for their TV shows content, though they lack premium content from channels like HBO. They have also started their own shows some of which have become hits like Daredevil and Jessica Jones. I hope Netflix supports net neutrality and doesn't try to create 'Netflix plans' with the ISPs.

As an UK based user, I feel this is an expensive introductory price. Here, I pay £6.99 for standard HD content and 2 screens. The India price appears higher, and if a number of shows can't even be shown, I don't really understand what the point is.
We watch Netflix more for their original series than movies. As has been rightly pointed out, the movies are pretty mediocre

I use this service in Germany and pay 9.99 Euros for the same plan that is offered at INR 650 per month. I am happy with the content so far, US TV series (old episodes thou), Originals and some movies. But I liked their kids section where my son really enjoys most of the kids contents. I however miss the Indian movies content as they have none !

Quick questions thou:
- Can i use a VPN and watch Netflix India content ?
- Is it possible for me to signup in India for INR 650 plan or even INR 800 for UHD and use that account here for watching US or Germany UDH contents ?

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Originally Posted by 14000rpm (Post 3885905)

Netflix works on 'LONG TAIL' business model. they focus on licensing a large number of niche movies that are rented infrequently.

Thanks! That explains why the rubbish movies always came in a group. Every time I saw their new additions for a particular month, I went 'Y-A-W-N'.

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The few HIT content draws the crowd for subscription and Retains the patronage via Not-so-popular content which is anyway licensed for lower via bulk licensing.

I remember reading an article about Netflix's brilliant recommendations tool / algorithms, and how they needed those algorithms to find the best of the junk for you.

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Originally Posted by prashanthyr (Post 3886591)

The India price appears higher, and if a number of shows can't even be shown, I don't really understand what the point is.

Which is a very peculiar strategy. Normally, any international service that enters India does so at a lower price. E.g. iTunes songs are much cheaper than in the USA (Rs. 7 - 15 compared to $1). Even the Apple Music subscription price is so much lower than abroad. Apple realised they need to price it low in a market where piracy rules, credit card usage is low & people aren't used to paying for songs.

After looking at Netflix for 2 days, I've made the following observations:

1. Collection of movies/TV shows that can be viewed isn't all that great.
2. New stuff can't be seen anywhere. It's mostly old.
3. Movie quality S-U-C-K-S. Not even remotely HD. Passable as DVD rip, if that.
4. Even with a 200GB FUP limit on a 100Mbps FTTH connection, I was concerned about data usage all the time. Ended up using nearly 5GB of content on day 1, watching I Am Legend.
5. No way to store content offline, which sucks big time. If I want to re-watch something, I'll have to burn through GBs of bandwidth again.

Finally, in a country like ours where the average Internet speed is just a piddly 2Mbps, with extremely poor data limit caps, I genuinely don't see the point of Netflix right now. Sure, I might be able to enjoy it without much issues, but I much rather prefer watching stuff off Blu-Ray and have the ability to re-watch it without burning a hole in my data plan. So, no Thank You Netflix, I will be canceling my connection 3 days before you charge my credit card.

I have been using netflix on my PS3 for 5 years now. If you watch on PC or MAC use Smartflix. There are no content restrictions based on country.

In India only 15 % of the US content is available.

The normal netflix app sucks. Content discovery is very rudimentary and suitable for kids only.

Here is the complete netflix database with hidden sub categories :

http://ogres-crypt.com/public/NetFli...ng-Genres.html

And

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...MBEl6I/pubhtml

Right now its best to use the Netflix the old way :

Through DNS services or VPN and switch regions based on what you want to watch.

So whats the hype for?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dar3dev|l (Post 3886612)

- Can i use a VPN and watch Netflix India content ?
- Is it possible for me to signup in India for INR 650 plan or even INR 800 for UHD and use that account here for watching US or Germany UDH contents ?

There are no Country specific accounts on netflix. The IP address of the device decides which region's content you will get.

So use VPN or various other DNS services and you are golden.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sourav9385 (Post 3886826)

This review is exactly what I was waiting for. I really wonder how they even kick started this project with all these prevailing issues around bandwidth and specially trying to push dated content. I am not certain on not considering this option given that i already pay 8K towards tata sky annually :-(

Well, i was soo excited when i heard netflix is coming to india. I was kinda addicted after using it atleast 2 hours a day during my last year stay in US. Believe me it was tough after i came back as there was no such convenient option with such a wide library (although it takes a while for new seasons) and you have flexibility to pause it on your cell phone and resume watching from the same point on your tablet or laptop. I enjoyed in US due to 100 Mbps speed and no FUP limits, but things were not the same any more. I was concerned about the FUP limits as if i try using it the same way here it will need 156 GB of data over a period of a month which doesnt make sense. Also netflix, hulu and amazon prime are being considered in countries like US, UK, Germany etc as u dont have levarage to download anything and everything from torrent as your ISP keep a watch on your download activity and if u end up downloading even a song you will get infringement notices and you either have to pay fine and your services can be suspended too.

Conclusion : I do not support piracy however in a country like india where we have FUP limits with faster data plans i will rather use torrent or buy Dvds over using netflix. I will be unsubscribing before my free subscription ends. ��

Netflix in the US is great.
I downloaded it now here in India. Saying that, while Netflix does have some stuff that I really like, I believe, compared with the US it is really low on content of the kind I like.
I mean, with Netflix one wants more International content rather than stupid BollyWolly stuff I would imagine! So since they have such a wide array and they charge approx 10 Dollars a month (Rs 650), why can't they provide first class content which the so called "niche community" is interested in?

The same goes for the App Store on iOS, where so many apps that are available in the US and UK are not available here in India. And lastly, the same goes for Amazon India, which has so little here in India, compared with what one can get on the US/ UK sites!

I have also subscribed to Getflix which is basically a DNS service for Netflix and even comes with a smartphone app. With this your connection can been seen as coming from a country selected from the comprehensive list. So I can watch Netflix content for basically any major country from US, UK, France, Germany, Brazil and so on. Well worth paying for this service if you ask me.