Netflix is often criticized as a Hollywood-style entertainment behemoth crushing all competition and diminishing local content, but an academic says that’s a simplistic view. A media studies expert said there is a lot of misunderstanding about the world’s biggest internet-distributed video service which has proved a game-changer for entertainment.

«Netflix must be examined as a zebra among horses,» said Professor Lotz who is in the middle of a three-year Australian Research Council Discovery Project — Internet-distributed television: Cultural, industrial and policy dynamics. She recently published an article in the International Journal of Cultural Studies — ‘In Between the Global and the Local: Mapping the Geographies of Netflix as a Multinational Service.’

«Few recognize the extent to which Netflix has metamorphosed into a global television service. Unlike services that distribute only US-produced content, Netflix has funded the development of a growing library of series produced in more than 27 countries, across six continents, including Australia.

«Netflix has regional offices now in Singapore, Amsterdam, and Sao Paulo. Last year it opened its Australian headquarters in Sydney.»

Along with QUT’s Distinguished Professor Stuart Cunningham and Dr Ramon Lobato, Senior Research Fellow, RMIT, Professor Lotz is investigating the impact of global subscription video-on-demand platforms on national television markets.

«Internet-distributed video services such as Netflix, have completely transformed the entertainment landscape and the competitive field in which free-to-air television operates, as well as turned the definition of ‘pay TV’ on its head,» Professor Lotz said.

Story Source: Materials provided by Queensland University of Technology. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.