I read an interesting article over at Digital Spy today that claims a new ‘tool‘ (actually an advert for a VPN provider) proves that the UK has half the content of our American friends. This is simply not true and is at best badly worded and at worst an outright lie.
Over the last couple of years the UK (and other regions) catalogue has been steadily growing and actually isn’t far off the US in terms of numbers. At the time of writing there are 5,638 titles on US Netflix (a ‘title’ being a single show or movie eg all 5 seasons of Breaking Bad is a single title) with the UK having 4,693 – nothing like the figures claimed in the ‘Notflix’ tool. They say the UK only has 2,967 titles – which is roughly what UK Netflix had in July 2016.
Netflix UK Content over the last year
Their figures also differ wildly for Canada and Australia too. ‘Notflix’ claims there are only 2,044 titles in Australia when there are actually 4,196 and for Canada they say 3,591 when there are actually 5,179. Figures for other countries when compared to other trusted sources are also inaccurate.
I like to think the best of people so I will put forward a possible reason for this discrepancy and that it is just a badly-worded bit of marketing. Perhaps their figures show which American content is available in the UK without taking into account all the UK content that isn’t available in America. So, the UK might have half of the content that America has BUT it also has lots of other content – at the end of the day, they are selling access to a VPN so they want people to think they’re getting more for their money.
Regardless of the reason(s) for the incorrect figures, the truth is that US Netflix DOES NOT have twice as much content as UK Netflix.
As of 26th October 2017 the current numbers are:
UK Netflix: 4,693 titles
US Netflix: 5,638 titles
Canadian Netflix: 5,179 titles
Australian Netflix: 4,196 titles
UPDATE 28th October 2017
I’ve been doing a bit of number crunching – what better way to spend a Saturday morning?!
UK Netflix has 1,704 titles that USA Netflix doesn’t.
USA Netflix has 2,631 titles that UK Netflix doesn’t.
There are 2,998 titles that are available in both regions.
I have a feeling that the VPN Company’s “Notflix” marketing is using these figures – i.e. things in the US that are not available in the UK and completely ignoring the fact that there are 1,704 titles that the UK also has. It’s like they have assumed that the US catalogue is the full list of all available titles on Netflix…
But they have a lot more better stuff
Numbers are no indication of catalogue quality, though
It’s all about Canada! Best Netflix in the World!
Yea one million programs on weed and hookers … thumbs up from me.
Ok maybe not more!? However they have better that is for damn sure!
Look at the crap though. Last monday 40 odd films were added. 25+ indian films 5+ korean and maybe 2 or 3 english films.
How do you know that the Indian or Korean films were crap?
but there is probably plenty of Indians, Koreans etc living in this country that do enjoy those
Good for them. i’ve enjoyed a few korean, german, spanish films but thats not the point. It should be 80% english language. It should be quality ( in any language) not quantity.
I signed up for English not Korean. Taking off good uk stuff and replacing it with some subtitled stuff from some far flung country int going to keep me subscribing. I’m not interested in dubbed or subtitled stuff
But how many people moan saying everywhere should have the same content? That doesn’t just mean American content, it means other countries and continents too. And, hey, guess what? The US, Canadian and Australian services also get the Korean and Chinese stuff too!
Do you know how many english films make up that list?
I think you’re exaggerating the percentage of foreign language content on UK Netflix. At least 75 to 80% is English language. And there is a dedicated sub category for foreign language. If you don’t like it then don’t watch it.
But like most people i’ve watched the good stuff, attempted the awful films and rely on new additions. i must have gave up on 50 films think why didnt i just read the reviews first!
But like most people i’ve watched the good stuff, attempted the awful films and rely on new additions. i must have gave up on 50 films think why didnt i just read the reviews first!
But like most people i’ve watched the good stuff, attempted the awful films and rely on new additions. i must have gave up on 50 films think why didnt i just read the reviews first!
I’m American and I can’t believe the crap Netflix in the U.K. Tries to offer people. Way better more recognizable and popular options on the US Netflix.
It’s an interesting point. I’d be interested to see how the figures for English language and international language content UK v US
Brian Walker
UK titles with English as their 1st audio language: 2788 (59% of total)
US titles with English as their 1st audio language: 3427 (60% of total)
UK titles with English as an audio option: 3497 (75% of total)
UK titles with English as an audio option: 4056 (72% of total)
Again, roughly equal.
Nice. That’s basically what I expected. Yes we get a lot of Bollywood films here, but there’s no reason they don’t get them in the US too plus there’s probably lots of Spanish titles etc over there too. At the end of the day Netflix probably licenses so many International titles for next to nothing compared to the like of Hollywood offerings.
The sad thing is. People watch that bollywood trash. reviews are always awful. So netfliy will only get more and more.
I’d like to see how many of the roughly say ‘top 500’ films of all time are on netflix.
Kevin Young when you find that list then head to https://uk.newonnetflix.info/catalogue/search and https://usa.newonnetflix.info/catalog/search and enter each one. Then come back and let me know the results. Or you can pay me £30 an hour to check for you 😉
you should send this to digitalspy
I wasn’t sure if that was too “confrontational”. I’m basically saying their research was crap :/
When people say better they mean the likes of Indian jones , Bourne Identity quality films available. Even for instance Line of Duty season 3 is available in Netflix Philippines but still not NF UK.
Its not a knock on Netflix UK but people want more quality back catalogue i think.
Netflix uk is worth the money saying all that lol
Darren Dixon line of duty season 3 is coming on Saturday
But others here are saying they DON’T want UK terrestrial stuff yet you DO want Line of Duty… They’ll never be able to please everyone 😉
Wayne McClellan cool , i already watched it in manila in June lol
remember that it’s the content owners who determine what we get. If Bourne Identity is currently a Sky or Amazon exclusive or something, then we won’t see it on Netflix.
All Disney, Pixar and Lucasfilm stuff will go soon (if not already) because of the new Disney streaming service.
Unfortunately TV is becoming very fragmented.
Yes, that’s why they’ve been adding so much foreign rubbish. All I see is Asian language stuff, I mean I like Asians but their TV and movies? Not so good
Some of it is brilliant
Their movies are far superior aswell
It’s like all that kids stuff they add. I mean, I like kids but their TV…
My misses is thai and I sware thai TV could be used to torture people … got an isis fighter that won’t talk … sit him in frount of a TV with a thai sitcom on . . It’s fucking awful
Andy, each to their own. If you enjoy that stuff then fair enough. I pay my subscription so I feel like I can voice my own personal opinion.
AJ Arnold And so can Andy Hall.
And that’s why I love Netflix – they manage to cater for everyone.
Yeah that’s why I said each to their own etc. By the way I love Netflix uk and it’s originals alone are worth the 8 notes. Stranger things tomorrow, oh yesh!
Yeah that’s why I said each to their own etc. By the way I love Netflix uk and it’s originals alone are worth the 8 notes. Stranger things tomorrow, oh yesh!
I’m loving The Expanse
Lol yeah US has better content film wise.
True. But the content is a lot better
Not sure about the US but can confirm the content is also better on Canadian netflix and does feel like there is more
I watch mostly TV series, I can’t say the movies do much for me
The Asian cinema is good
The original content is good though
yes it does
did you actually read the article before making that comment?
no
will if you did you would know it doesn’t
don’t need to, I already know it does, seeming I live there
So because you live in America that means you don’t have to read things to learn facts. I suppose, given your president, that would make sense…
correct, I find out the facts for myself, instead of reading something that could be true or not
Erm…. Ok then.
Have a nice life :/
ok since you won’t read it, here are the facts – US Netfix – 5,638 titles, UK Netflix – 4,693 titles thats not even near half
I don’t have a president. I have a prime minister, I think the same one that you have. I said I live their, didn’t say I was American, Finding out the facts really helps when commenting on Social Media i find
You implied living in America with your response.
Regardless, America doesn’t have twice as many titles on Netflix as the UK.
You can ignore those facts if you like, but that doesn’t stop them being facts.
Ta-ta.
No it doesn’t have twice as much but it does tend to have better content overall.
No we just get all the shite from British terrestrial stations, which is what I subscribe to Netflix to get as far away from as possible. As soon as I see the BBC / ITV / Channel 4 logos i keep scrolling (unless I happen to know the programme was made by BBC Canada).
im glad there is a lot of UK stuff on Netflix, gives me a chance to catch up on them if i don’t see them on tv because i’ve been watching netflix lol
What’s BBC Canada?
Jonathan Baldwin it’s literally BBC’s Canadian arm. It’s actually good & does some quality shows regularly.
“better” is very subjective. UK and USA have different content but judging by the number of messages I get there are a lot of Americans who feel the UK content is better.
i know a lot of americans don’t like the fact we get the latest episodes of tv shows weekly on netflix a few hours after they are on tv
I am American currently living in UK and just back from visiting home. Will say they had a ton more way better movies by far then we do here! No clue what Americans would know what is actually on uk Netflix and or be messaging. Lol
I’ve had messages on my New on Netflix USA asking why programs or films are on the UK Netflix but not American.
Got ya……they apprently have no clue the random no name stuff Netflix is full here on UK to say that then. They have several Disney movies and a just a ton more better films not bunch of indie film crap no name stuff. Only thing better here are a few tv programs. But then again they air on tv over there so do not need them updated weekly like we do here. Seriously US netflix just better with content in general. Sad but true!
Disney is being removed from Netflix
From a TV perspective, there has always been for me, much more viable content on the US Netflix. I’d definitely say there is twice as much content that I would consider watching so the statement rings true for me.
I tend to watch more British and Australian shows now than U.S. shows!
I think the grass is always greener on the other side mentality plays a big role. Personally i prefer the uk selection for the most part. And we get star trek!
https://youtu.be/u-2wYg-BDt0
That’s because UK is filled with Bollywood shit. B movie shit too. America gets the good stuff for the same price or possibly less.
In a lot of US states there is a tax on top of the price
America don’t even get The Shawshank Redemption… Need I say more?!
It’s on TV in the UK loads too lol
Lol but they HAD it long ago , because I was there 1 year ago and saw it. I assume eventually they will appear on NF UK k.
Boo hoo, in Australia Murdoch killed our National Broadband Network , lobbied hard and turned it into a multi billion dollar joke just so Foxtel could buy the exclusive rights to the biggest shows like game of thrones and the walking dead.
Much like Sky in the UK…
US Netflix is so popular they had issues with people using proxies to watch it and now Netflix had it so that proxies can’t be used at all.
That’s more the distributors and studios with their archaic licensing. In a nutshell they will have been telling Netflix if they kept allowing it they’d pull the content. Obviously Netflix need to keep on their good side so had to act on proxies/VPNs etc.
Content IS, however, slowly becoming more universal.
They might not have more content but they definitely had better. I miss being able to access it.
there was still a google chrome extention working until earlier in the week called ultrasurf, but they blocked it
Damn!
I find it annoying that the US have a superior choice to view.
maybe they dont have “more” but they have WAY better shows then the UK !
Presumably the discrepancy is more about what regional rights are available when Netflix buys stuff, and balancing budgets with what they know about demand. Also, if they want to target a region for growth they’re going to spend enough cash to get a few blockbusters that they can then advertise. It’s a bit pointless complaining about it, and if you really want to it’s easy enough to trick Netflix to show you films for a different region with VPNs, third party browser plug-ins and so on.
It’s easy enough to get the US netflix in the UK anyway, you just pay £70+ a month to sky
They have twice as much that people want to watch though.
Im American. Spent 5 months in U.K.. your Netflix bluntly sux.
…walking dead,arrows…..when on netflix uk,because they already have on netflix france!!!!
Sky have the rights for those in the UK. I’m sure Netflix could get them but I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t want a price hike in order to get those few shows in the UK?
walking dead is exclusive to amazon in the UK outside of sky
Yeah I dunno bout that… When I saw American netflix there’s loads we don’t have
Yes, there is. But in terms of numbers there isn’t. UK has loads of stuff that America doesn’t have too.
Then why not combine so every one is happy?
Because the distributors and studios are still in the past and restrict licenses on a per-country basis. They also have a habit of giving exclusive rights to the highest bidder (often Sky/NowTV on the UK) on a per-country basis too. Hence different content in different regions. This isn’t Netflix’s doing most of the time!
Who cares? Let’s binge on Netflix, because there’s nothing on TV…
It’s a case of the grass always being greener. No one is forcing anyone to subscribe to Netflix. If people don’t like it, leave.
This thread is worse than one about Brexit!
I always find something to watch and sometimes the ‘trash’ is good mindless nonsense for when you don’t want to think too hard.
I’ve been doing a bit of number crunching – what better way to spend a Saturday morning?!
UK Netflix has 1,704 titles that USA Netflix doesn’t.
USA Netflix has 2,631 titles that UK Netflix doesn’t.
There are 2,998 titles that are available in both regions.
I have a feeling that the VPN Company’s marketing is using these figures – i.e. things in the US that are not available in the UK and completely ignoring the fact that there are 1,704 titles that the UK also has. It’s like they have assumed that the US catalogue is the full list of all available titles on Netflix…
I’ll update the original post with these figures.
Chances are they’re basing their claims on out of date stats too…
The more I look at their figures the more I think they’re just being misleading. “The UK can only watch half of US content” is, technically, true. BUT that is very different from saying “the UK has half the content that the USA has”. Likewise, it would be correct for me to say that “the US can only watch 70% of UK content” BUT that doesn’t mean the UK has 30% more.