Netflix will expand its DVD and streaming service to Spain in January 2012, according to an interview with Pedro Perez, president of the local producers’ association FAPAE.
“Netflix has already broken into the US market gaining 26 million subscribers so far and they expect to have 30 million before the end of the year who are paying between 8 and 10 dollars a month,” Perez told Screen Digest.
The move follows the success Netflix has experienced in the U.S. and Canada, as well as its launch initiatives in Latin America, the Caribbean and the United Kingdom.
What will make the Spanish launch different, however, is Spain’s inclusion in the Priority section of the International Intellectual Property Alliance’s Watchlist of offenders, which cites Spanish statistics of 400 million illegal downloads per year, compared with 100 million theater tickets sold.
“We are part of the Filmin website, which offers titles from local producers, and although we are growing slowly, there are not enough subscribers to believe there is a market, like there is in France, the U.K. or Germany,” one leading local distributor told ScreenDaily.
Related Links:
Screen Digest – http://tinyurl.com/4x422hw
International Intellectual Property statement on Spain (PDF) – http://tinyurl.com/3dm99ar
