We’ve been hearing for months that Netflix has been working on trying to get launches going in France and Germany. Now, it’s looking like at least one of those will become a reality later this year.
Variety is reporting that Orange CEO Stephane Richard said he thinks Netflix wants to launch in France in the fall. He had appeared on the radio last week and said as much, but noted that Orange hadn’t signed anything yet.
Netflix isn’t commenting.
Late last year, reports indicated that the company had been in talks with officials in both France and Germany, seeking information on laws that could affect its operations. In January, a Netflix Marketing & PR Management job posting was spotted, which called for the candidate to speak and write English, but noting that “Dutch, the Nordic languages, German and French are a plus.”
The Wall Street Journal later reported that Netflix was in discussions with American entertainment companies about “licensing the rights to popular Hollywood content in France and Germany, among other European countries.”
According to that report, Netflix had started talks with the French government specifically about a possible launch.
CEO Reed Hastings hinted at a European expansion in the company’s earnings discussion in January, but didn’t get into specifics.
Netflix has already launched in the Nordics, the UK and Ireland, and most recently in the Netherlands in September.
Beyond expanding the availability of Netflix itself, more markets potentially means more region-specific original content.
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