Canadians love Netflix, and so does the world, considering there are now 40 countries who have their own respective versions of the website – and although we love homegrown content, according to a new study one in three Canadians have figured out a way to stream their television shows and movies from the American version of Netflix.
According to an MTM (Media Technology Monitor) survey, a significant number of Canadian Netflix users (35 per cent) have stumbled upon a trick to access content available in other countries: free and subscription-based online services that mask a user’s Internet address to make it appear they actually reside elsewhere. One of the main reasons that people are changing the system is to access different catalogues of content through Netflix – popular series like “Dexter,” “30 Rock,” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” are not available on the Canadian version of Netflix because of certain licensing restrictions (The Canadian Press).
In the same survey, about 32 per cent of respondents said they were Netflix subscribers, which was up from the 25 per cent who said they used the streaming service when a similar poll was conducted in the spring of 2013. A large majority (88 per cent) said they were streaming content through Netflix every week (CP).
Netflix Canada was launched in September 2010 as the first international branch of the US-based company. It then popped up in Latin America, England, Ireland, and other parts of Europe. This past May, the company announced its plans of rolling out in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium and Luxembourg.
Photo: Netflix
