Online movie and television series streaming service ,Netflix, officially went live in 130 countries including Ghana on Wednesday, 6th January, 2016.
In a tweet from its US twitter account, Netflix US, the company said ‘ Netflix is now global. #NetflixEverywhere. Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Heard Island and McDonald Islands…’
Co-founder and chief executive officer of Netflix, Reed Hastings, also made the announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
“Today, I am delighted to announce that while we have been here on stage at CES, we switched Netflix in Azerbaijan, in Vietnam, in India, in Nigeria, in Poland, in Russia, in Saudi Arabia, in Singapore, in South Korea, in Turkey, in Indonesia, and in 130 new countries,” said Hastings.
The other 130 countries to get the service include Botswana, Congo, Central African Republic, Congo, Cote d Ivoire, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Western Sahara, Eritrea, South Korea, Afghanistan, Angola, Antarctica, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Benin, Russia and India among others.
China, though, is not on Netflix’s new countries while other countries excluded from the launch are Crimea, North Korea and Syria because of US government restrictions on American companies.
Netflix, which started its streaming service in the US in 2007, last year expressed a goal to expand to an extra 150 countries across the globe.
Popular US TV shows that Ghanaians can watch on Netflix include Suits and will also get movies from Brad Pitt, Adam Sandler and Angelina Jolie among others.
Industry players believe coming on board of Netflix will improve competition in the industry.
They believe Netfllix which is the world’s leading internet TV service provider stands the chance of ousting Multichoice’s digital satellite TV service, DSTV, following constant complaints about the company’s high monthly subscription fee.
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By: Vivian Kai Lokko/citifmonline.com/Ghana