If Netflix was a country, the world may well be prepping for war right now.
Instead, law makers in Asia (with the exception of China, which Netflix hasn’t dared enter yet) seem to be rolling out the red carpet to the U.S. streaming service. Others haven’t said a word, so effectively, the carpet is equally plush.
What’s deeply puzzling about this picture? As staggeringly wonderful as Netflix is (and it is, truly deeply), Asia’s regulators are effectively giving the finger to programmers in the region who have followed the rules, been respectful, paid their taxes, created jobs, trained people, contributed on the ground in so many ways.
The big swinging ballsiness of Netflix’s move into Asia is overshadowed only by the mammoth unfairness that now hangs heavy over the entire industry.
Unless, of course, regulators plan to use the situation to open up everything to everyone, and let parental controls/PIN codes rule. A level playing field. Now wouldn’t that really be something?
Right now, there’s a lot of hairsplitting over which digital services are actually covered by what regulations. How much is being censored? How much did MediaCorp actually cut out ofWeedson Toggledespite parental controls? What exactly did HBO Go cut fromGame of Thronesin Singapore?
Will regulators take the shackles off? Maybe. Hopefully. After all, the sky hasn’t fallen yet because Netflix dared.
Asia woke to a wonderland of uncensored content on the first Thursday of January, courtesy of U.S. streaming service Netflix, which flipped the switch on the SVOD platform in more than 130 new countries – excluding China and North Korea – during the CES show in Las Vegas.
In deciding to go so gloriously big, Netflix became the first programmer with legally acquired content ever in Asia to rise above so many programming codes all at once.
Nudity, sex, drugs, homosexuality... it’s all there in, among other titles,Marco Polo,Orange is the New BlackandClockwork Orange, which was banned in Singapore for more than three decades and released only in 2011 as a festival movie with a R21 r...
If Netflix was a country, the world may well be prepping for war right now.
Instead, law makers in Asia (with the exception of China, which Netflix hasn’t dared enter yet) seem to be rolling out the red carpet to the U.S. streaming service. Others haven’t said a word, so effectively, the carpet is equally plush.
What’s deeply puzzling about this picture? As staggeringly wonderful as Netflix is (and it is, truly deeply), Asia’s regulators are effectively giving the finger to programmers in the region who have followed the rules, been respectful, paid their taxes, created jobs, trained people, contributed on the ground in so many ways.
The big swinging ballsiness of Netflix’s move into Asia is overshadowed only by the mammoth unfairness that now hangs heavy over the entire industry.
Unless, of course, regulators plan to use the situation to open up everything to everyone, and let parental controls/PIN codes rule. A level playing field. Now wouldn’t that really be something?
Right now, there’s a lot of hairsplitting over which digital services are actually covered by what regulations. How much is being censored? How much did MediaCorp actually cut out ofWeedson Toggledespite parental controls? What exactly did HBO Go cut fromGame of Thronesin Singapore?
Will regulators take the shackles off? Maybe. Hopefully. After all, the sky hasn’t fallen yet because Netflix dared.
Asia woke to a wonderland of uncensored content on the first Thursday of January, courtesy of U.S. streaming service Netflix, which flipped the switch on the SVOD platform in more than 130 new countries – excluding China and North Korea – during the CES show in Las Vegas.
In deciding to go so gloriously big, Netflix became the first programmer with legally acquired content ever in Asia to rise above so many programming codes all at once.
Nudity, sex, drugs, homosexuality... it’s all there in, among other titles,Marco Polo,Orange is the New BlackandClockwork Orange, which was banned in Singapore for more than three decades and released only in 2011 as a festival movie with a R21 rating.
Missing titles – most significantlyHouse of Cards– are MIA in Asia not because of content, but because rights have already been sold to broadcasters (who dutifully cut out the bits that will get them in trouble) in the region. Ditto with other titles; in this, Netflix has been perfectly proper and respectful.
Arguments are being made about exactly what regulations there are for SVOD in Asia, about the challenges regulators face in a digital world that wants to be borderless. As one Asian industry boss said: Don’t blame Netflix, just ask the regulators what they’re going to do about it.
Books have now opened on the response from regulators, and bets are being made on either how quickly other programmers in Asia will be allowed to follow, or how fast Netflix will be forced to toe lines in local markets along with everyone else.
The markets at the top of our watchlist are Singapore (where regulations are often viewed as the gold standard by neighbouring markets) and Malaysia, followed by Indonesia and India.
Hong Kong and the Philippines are unlikely to be a problem for Netflix; HBO Asia’s HBO Go streaming service is already available in those two markets, uncensored. In Singapore, HBO Go content is modified (or at least HBO says it is) to comply with local programming restrictions.
Programmers and platforms are laying low – publicly. But they are unlikely to keep totally quiet and let Netflix command the SVOD ring unchecked for long. Word is that platforms are beating a path to Netflix door, falling over themselves to integrate the service into their subscription offerings; no announcement have yet been made.
Our bet, however, is that rather than pull Netflix back into a fold shaped during the analogue era, a strong bid will be made for everyone to do be allowed to do what Netflix is doing in the digital space.
Singapore’s Media Development Authority (MDA) said in its official response to the Netflix launch that it “welcomes Netflix’s arrival in Singapore and its commitment to aligning with our media classification framework”.
The MDA also said that it would “continue to work with Netflix to provide viewers with more informed choices and put in place measures to safeguard the young from inappropriate content”.
None of the other regulators have commented yet.
Netflix is already available in Australia and Japan. New countries in Asia are Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
China and North Korea are excluded. In China, Netflix says it is still considering its options. Looks like not even Netflix has the balls to do first and deal with Chinese authorities later. The decision to exclude North Korea is because U.S. regulations preclude American companies from operating in North Korea.
How much behind the scenes activity is there on a situation where companies on the ground are held to local standards and Netflix is given free reign with its 0000 default pin code? No idea, there has to be some. Meanwhile, happy viewing.
This article first appeared in ContentAsia eNewsletter 11 January, 2016