THUNDER BAY – ENTERTAINMENT – With around 40% of anglophone Canadians now using Netflix, it’s become clear that the streaming service has revolutionized the way in which we consume our television and movie entertainment.
However, it’s been a testing year for the brand, as Netflix has sought to block the use of proxies that many consumers used in order to watch entertainment from the company outside of their specified area of viewing.
Whilst such software is not illegal, Netflix brought about changes that stopped proxies being able to be used and quickly earned the wrath of many Canadian viewers who felt that the range of programmes available in Canada was significantly less than those over the border in the USA.
In a bid to counter the wave of protest, Netflix has endeavoured to provide its Canadian customers with some exclusives like House Of Cards and Orange Is The New Black that have already helped the brand distinguish itself from its streaming competitors.
It’s become clear that content is key in helping a variety of brands gain a level of success in the Canadian market as many national retailers have suffered as a result of failing to adapt to the new digital environment.
And rather than offering a blanket marketing approach to an entire nation, many companies have felt the benefit of tailoring their content towards more specialised tastes. This has been seen with brands like Tim Horton’s who have been particularly aware of language-specific concerns of Canadian citizens that have been successfully applied across the brand’s range of online products.
It’s a tactic that’s also proven successful for media providers such as Red Flush online casino who’ve managed to provide gamers with a string of exclusive gaming titles such as 108 Heroes slots, Big Five Blackjack Gold and Jacks Or Better Power Poker.
Games like these have helped Red Flush Casino gain an edge in an already competitive online gaming market as they able to be quickly and easily played on an increasing range of digital platforms such as cellphones, tablets and laptops.
But with national borders posing little relevance to the media consumer of the 21st century, it looks like online casino sites are able to provide a telling example of how digital technologies are able to provide gaming solutions for those frustrated by their own country’s media legislation.
This has already been seen in the television and movie arena through consumers using proxy sites to gain access to the latest media products, as they are unwilling to use widespread illegal file sharing software.
As such Netflix have made the gamble to do away with content licensed from the movie distributor Epix and we’ll instead be seeing many more Netflix-created exclusives over the coming year.
As well as the hugely-popular comic-book adaptation, Daredevil, Chelsea, debuting on Netflix Wednesday May 11 marks Netflix’s first-ever talk show, with all new 30-minute episodes debuting on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 12:01am PST. As well much-anticipated culinary documentary series Chef’s Table, and The Do-Over will aim to provide Adam Sandler with another successful comedic outing.
The Last Kingdom looks to cater to Canada’s endless thirst for fantasy series, and the animated F Is For Family shows that just like casino games, there’s something endlessly satisfying about retro entertainment being brought up to date for the 21st century.
