“We are ready to modernize the meaning of the term 'distributors of multi-channel video programming' and make it technology neutral. The definition of a mvpd (distributor of multi-channel video programming) should be based on the services offered by a provider, but not on how those services reach consumers. Twenty-first century users shouldn't be held back by rules that only recognize twentieth-century technologies." The words are of Tom Wheeler, Chairman of the fCC, Federal Communication Commission American, and give an idea of the "on demand" TV revolution, which in the USA is so reality that it goes beyond the phenomenon Netflix. Born in 1997 as a rental service complete with physical copies of films and TV series delivered to homes, the video streaming company now targets 60 million customers worldwide, more than half of which in the States, where it is growing at an average of 1 million new customers a month, for a turnover that exceeded one billion dollars in the third quarter.
Waiting to land in Italy, where there is talk of landing in the first months of 2015, Netflix has already conquered Belgium, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Ireland, Great Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, South America, Mexico and Canada, realizing what is now the American Communications Commission would like to extend to other subjects and that is to allow all providers, even traditional TVs, to offer "à la carte" services, with users who will be able to choose which channels they want to buy online, without having to pay for packages that include TV services that they don't find interesting. “Consumers have long complained that cable TVs are forcing them to buy channels they will never see,” Wheeler commented, “and the passage of the video on Internet can answer these complaints. But for this to be possible, those who broadcast video via the internet must have access to the programmes”.
The Internet that joins the TV and changes its perspectives. This is to the delight of users but also of the television industry itself, for which video on demand (vod) services are a real boon: it is news these days that Hollywood Netflix will collect 6,8 billion dollars in royalties in 2015, against the 5,2 paid this year. Still little compared to cable TV, but the gap is narrowing. And many subjects flock in the wake: Amazon and Hulu Plus are already on the market and other companies, including Dish, Sony, DirecTV and Verizon, have expressed an interest in becoming an online distributor, while the intention of pay TV was news of a few weeks ago HBO, which has 31 million subscribers in the US, to launch its own streaming channel. After all, that Netflix is even starting to feel breathing down your neck is also confirmed by the performance on the Stock Exchange, where the company headed by Reed Hastings recently lost 25% of its value, following a quarterly report which highlighted a number of subscribers on the increase, but less than expected, and a profit in the red.
But the revolution is not mature only overseas. In Europe Netflix's online TV service, launched in 2008, arrived in the United Kingdom two years ago and in some countries it is already a virtuous case of adaptation of the television market. Just think about the Dutch model: Local premium operators reacted quickly, and public and private broadcasters launched a common Vod platform. Despite having only an Over the top distribution (which includes the hottest series of the moment, from True Detective to Game of Thrones, from Walking Dead to House of Cards), Netflix soon conquered audiences of all ages - according to some estimates that's already 600 subscribers – and Dutch consumers seem ready to welcome any other service that offers more or less the same, whether it's legal (like Netflix) or not. The reception in France is also excellent, where the telephone operator is Orange and the generalist TV network Rf1 they are already thinking of teaming up to launch a French Netflix, and where Canal + pay TV is also at the window.
The challenge of Europe, according to many experts, however, is not obvious for Netflix. First of all because some competitors have already arrived, such as Amazon in Germany, and then above all on a cultural level. If in fact it can be tempting to pay 8-10 euros per month (this would be the conceivable rate in Italy) and being able to watch all the TV series and films we want without limits, from the home TV with a click on the remote control or - at our choice - from the smartphone or tablet, it is not said however that the offer of Netflix, so well received in the USA, will be equally appreciated in countries that are part of another continent and that are different in mentality, habits and traditions, not only from the United States, but also from each other. This is why, for example, in France Netflix is trying to remedy the problem by producing a new TV series in the style of the very popular House of Cards, which will be called "Marseille" and will be directed by French directors, along the lines of what was done in Italy with the Gomorra series, capable of having success abroad as well.
In Italy, however, the problem is upstream: while in fact in Holland the success was facilitated by the fact that it is a country with one of the highest broadband penetrations in the world, in Italy it is precisely from that point of view that times would not be so ripe. To watch TV via the network, you need to have a good Internet connection, fast and without traffic limits: ADSL or optical fiber, in short, to which, however, only 55% of Italians are subscribers, against 73% of the European average (according to data from the European Commission). Otherwise there is Smart TV, or the latest generation television "naturally" connected to the internet: in Italy in 2013 there were just 4,2 million homes with smart TVs and only half of which (against 80% in the United Kingdom) were actually used for the internet. However, these figures are growing strongly: the forecast for 2014 is 5,9 million smart TVs and 7,8 million in 2015. And in fact, it appears that Netflix is looking for language specialists in Italian.
