Netflix Cheif Content Officer Ted Sarandos spoke with CNBC this week, and dropped a video on-demand bombshell: you can stream videos in the future without having to be online to do it. “We have talked a lot about this over the years and our belief is that broadband and Wi-Fi become more and more ubiquitous, available in more and more places that you are, more and more minutes of the day,” Sarandos said.
There is a catch though, the feature in it’s earliest stages will not be available in the U.S. Sarandos clarified why the feature will not first be available to American subscribers to the gigantic video service. “Now as we’ve launched in more territories … They all have different levels of broadband speeds and Wi-Fi access. So in those countries they have adapted their behaviors to be much more of a downloading culture. So in those emerging territories it starts to become a little more interesting. We still think for the developed world our thesis has been true but I think as we get into more and more (of the) undeveloped world and developing countries that we want to find alternatives for people to use Netflix easily.” So we may not be getting the convenience to download our favorite shows to watch on the go right away, but think how much data you will save by downloading on WI-FI when this becomes available?!
As 2016 nears it’s end, Netflix has expanded a lot recently reaching now 190 countries around the world with an added 3.2 million international subscribers. It’s going to get bigger and now apparently easier to use. This also will make it harder for all of us to leave the house right?