Netflix live in the UK | Hacker News Reader

Netflix live in the UK

netflix.co.uk

71 pointsEwanToo63 comments

They've lost one potential customer already, by forcing the 1 month free trial onto facebook users only.

Edit: thanks for the down votes! But in my defence, the site is broken in Chrome which is why I was unable to see an email only link.

There's an alternative "sign up using email address" link too.

It only shows you that link if you are not logged into Facebook. Cheeky frictionless sharing messiahs.

Ah, thanks for pointing that out. However the site is broken in Chrome so I was unable to even get to that stage.

You're right, it's broken in Chrome. Signup block looks completely different. Also, using IE Tab in Chrome, it goes berserk complaining (dozens of times) about the security certificate, not sure if that's a bug with IE Tab or their website.

The "Browse Selection" page doesn't work for me using Firefox 9.0.1 on Windows 7.

I'm using Chromium and Firefox and I can't see any email reference. Where is it?

text link directly under the Facebook sign-up button

Ah yes, there is it. Turns out you have to completly log out of Facebook to see it, and if you do it works with Chromium & FF

I've just been on a 30 minute phone call with them just to find that link.

I've got an adblock for all Facebook rubbish, and the signup without Facebook link is part of the Facebook item being blocked.

Also, if you have noscript enabled, then you won't see the non-Facebook form either.

I have signed up, by using Chrome Dev Tools to go into the HTML and find the <div id="email_registration"> form, changing the visibility from none to block, and then starting the process from there.

Now, I realise... the fact that I've purged Facebook from my view of the internet is partly to blame, but I bet I'm not the only one on HN to have done this.

On the phone call I did say, they really need to give non-Facebook signup equal prominence to the Facebook signup. I've mentioned the GP too, in that I'm not the only one who was deterred by the Facebook only signup.

Finally signed up, but having had a look around I've now cancelled.

Reasons:

* Worst catalogue I've seen in a while, especially foreign films

* Facebook recommends at the top of the page - my word, there is some seriously bad taste out there

* Site barely works in Chrome

* Occasionally stumble upon some page that integrates with Facebook and hangs as I block Facebook everywhere

Bad experience throughout, might give it another chance in 6 months time but it seems unlikely right now.

I never understand when people have NoScript and AdBlock, then complain about a site not working properly without checking if it's broken because they've broken it.

I figure we're at the point on the web where Javascript et al would be expected in your browser, but even if you don't sign up for that belief, at the very least you should understand you're part of a small minority and sometimes have to make concessions.

I did and do understand, hence:

"Now, I realise... the fact that I've purged Facebook from my view of the internet is partly to blame, but I bet I'm not the only one on HN to have done this."

Still, if you happen to not have a Facebook account or don't want to associate yours in any way, good luck!

"I figure we're at the point on the web where Javascript et al would be expected in your browser,"

A browser cannot always recuperate when JavaScript fails to arrive - what should it do at that point? A recent example: the outage of googleapis.com CDN caused problems on many sites using JavaScript hosted there all because OpenDNS blacklisted the domain as a phishing domain.

* http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/010612_Thousands_of_...

There are more reasons JavaScript indirectly failing in a browser: http://christianheilmann.com/2011/12/06/that-javascript-not-...

So generally, it makes sense for a site not to depend on JavaScript for a core basic experience.

Well, that's just bad planning on the part of people that are relying on a third party service for a core feature. Always have a backup for remote CDNs.

If you've done that, non-JS functionality is a tiny, tiny edge case. In an ideal world we would all handle it, but I just don't think it's realistic to expect developers to set the time aside for it.

Check the Ts&Cs... and avoid the Facebook login.

"Signing up using Facebook will give Netflix access to your basic Facebook information, including your name, profile picture, gender, user ID, networks, friends list, likes and interests. Unless you choose not to share a particular film or TV programme (using the "unshare" feature available on most devices), Netflix will automatically share everything you have watched, and other Netflix activity, with your Facebook friends, both on Facebook and on Netflix. Netflix may personalise or otherwise enhance your experience based on your Facebook information. Your friends and others who have access to view information about you on Facebook will be able to see that you’re a Netflix member as well as what you’ve watched, rated, added to your Queue, and other information about your use of the Netflix service. You’ll also be able to see similar information from your Facebook friends who are connected with Netflix. You can hide a film or TV programme during playback on most devices using the playback controls while instantly watching the film or TV programme. You can also "unshare" by visiting a film or TV programme's details page on the Netflix website. You can always disconnect Facebook at any time in the Preferences section located under the "Your Account" link. "

log out of facebook and visit the same page, you can sign up with just an email address.

I'm in the UK and I'll continue to pay for access to the US Netflix, since it has a much larger instant library. Even though this works out more expensive, at around £10/month (I use a paid proxy called unblockus).

Thanks so much for this comment! :)

Do you need a US credit card to do this?

I also do this and couldn't use any of my credit cards. My UK Debit card (Lloyds TSB) worked fine though.

My Natwest card used to work, but in December it failed (Netflix saying I'm not a US customer).

I resolved it by using a proxy card from entropay.com, using this guide:

http://www.unblock-us.com/how-to-set-up/netflix

They take a percentage, but it's still cheaper than LoveFilm and I have it working on android, pc, ipad and PS3.

Their homepage says they support AppleTV; has anyone had any success in updating their device to work with Netflix? My AppleTV 2 is currently updating, but I'm told it'll take 346 hours to complete the update.

Turn it off and on and try again ;]

You think they would have made more of an effort with the catalogue on offer before launching..

I can appreciate that UK will have different licensing laws in place than the US, but what's on offer now is a real turn off and a disappointment.

Having to install Silverlight on my Mac? Ugh.

Library selection is poor. Just about every film I searched for was missing.

I tend to use Netflix more as a cable substitute with TV shows than a full movie library. The number of full backlogs of great shows in the U.S. at least (30 Rock, Parks and Rec, Party Down, Breaking Bad, etc.) for 8/month vs. 100/month for cable is an astounding savings for me personally. The movie selection is meh, but I can live with that for what I'm paying.

Watching Instantly Is Not Currently Available For Your Account
Unfortunately your account is restricted to streaming only within the 50 United States and its territories.

You may still access your account, but you will not be able to play any title.

I'm disappointed that as a US based customer with a US billing address and a US credit card, even after this changeover I'm still unable to watch movies I'm paying for while staying in the UK.

Is it normal for domains other than facebook.com to ask for a facebook password? If so that seems very risky.

I would have assumed Facbook Inc to require third-party sites use a federated auth API, such as OAuth.

The price is amazing, but if the selection on the site really is all they have, very few people will go for it.

Think I'll do the free trial and see what the selection is like.

I had the same reaction when I saw the titles on the site.

Once I signed up and logged in, I could see a lot more titles that looked interesting. Still not a huge selection, but they seem to have done a poor job of promoting the service with the selection visible just on the public site.

The success of the BBC iPlayer indicates a strong demand in the UK for a video streaming service. If they can get enough content deals in place I think they'll do well.

I am really surprised that Netflix hasn't been able to launch with a better collection than this. I think even iTunes trumps it, which is a poor show.

I hope they get better TV/Movies soon, the ones they are advertising at the moment are terrible. I clicked on 'Thrillers' and there was only a few films i'd even heard of, let alone want to watch them.

£5.99 isnt a bad price if i can get everything (or nearly) i want to watch. But currently theres no chance i'd pay, i dont even want the free trial.

More titles will show up soon (I guess). When it launched here in Brazil it looked worse than the local alternatives, but the library quickly filled up. Now I'm worried I'll never be able to watch everything I want :(

To be fair I signed up for the free month and there are quite a few more movies/tv shows you'd want to watch once you've logged in (quite a few you wouldn't find on lovefilm too). I'm surprised they didn't show a lot more of the popular ones on the sign up page to be honest...

I'm sticking with itunes. This is utter rubbish, its not got any redeeming features at all. This will never pickup in the UK.

Yeah, I'm sticking with iTunes, at least until they get more content on there.

Can anyone actually browse the selection? Broken in all the browsers I tested (Safari, Firefox and Chrome): http://twitpic.com/856m1c

I was wondering if this was happening to just me, but it would appear not.

Fine on Chrome on Linux (no flash installed though, maybe that fixes it!).

The library's a bit lacklustre. Is it the same as the US library?

I don't know, but the word "lacklustre" certainly describes the US library as well.

Netflix instant in the US is really only worth it if you like "B movies", or just shit movies.

Or TV. For a couple bucks a month you get full back catalogs of a very large number of TV series, including currently airing popular ones. There's more recent TV content than you could get through in months.

> Netflix instant in the US is really only worth it if you like "B movies", or just shit movies.

This really depends on your taste. If you are looking for recent films and blockbusters, Netflix isn't really a great choice. If you are into documentaries, foreign film, silent film, and certain types of television (sci-fi and comedies come to mind), then Netflix has a large amount of content.

Netflix in the US is great for full seasons of TV shows. Sons of Anarchy, Mad Men and a bunch of others. It's also decent for classic movies and documentaries. I wouldn't expect to get the latest hollywood releases or you'll be disappointed. I'd guess that licensing in the UK is totally different and their library my reflect that. Sorry that media companies are dicks about viewing content in different regions.

No Mad Men on netflix for me (at least in Ireland)

Don't think they'll gain much market if they keep it this way. Lovefilm is £10, which is a bit more than Netflix (£6), but their collection is infinitely better.

While lovefilm offer more when it comes to posting you DVDs in the post, Netflix looks like it has a better set of streaming (and netflix is only streaming it seems).

worth noting: LOVEFiLM do have a "streaming only" package hidden away in the "upgrade package" menu[1] .... currently £4.99 but no doubt will be brought inline with netflix' £5.99

[1] http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22519236/Screenshots/2t.png

We got a LoveFile subscription trial with our new (internet) tv. At first I thought I had a limited set of films because it was a trial, but after some research is seems the streamable set of films are actually really limited.

The functionality is really bad too. I'm not sure if that's Sony or LoveFilm, but the way films are categorised has nothing to do with the actual film.

The lovefilm streaming selection is pathetic.

I signed up for the month free trial and they were advertising The Matrix to give you an example of how little there is to choose from.

There are more modern films but you have to pay extra for them.

"Sorry, Netflix is not available in your country... yet"

Pretyy excited about this, Lovefilm is a terrible website with a crappy library.

This just redirected me to my US netflix account. What am I supposed to see?

Not convinced they'll be able to gain much market in the UK. Very different from the US market.

How so? Care to explain?

tv is not only watchable here, it's fantastically good quality programming.

Plus if you have a TV you're already paying for the best programming out there, the BBC.

They're also competing with iPlayer, 4oD, etc, which:

* are used by millions of people

* are free

* have a much better selection

But what about movies? Netflix has a few target groups:

- People who want to watch TV shows when they are released to DVD

- People who want to watch on-demand movies

The US has Hulu plus ABC/CBS/FOX/NBC all have on-demand online channels. In the same respects they only hold seasons for so long. So the market in the TV area is really no different than iPlayer/4oD/etc.

The top online TV series rental for Lovefilm is Robot Chicken - Star Wars.[1] I've been in the UK long enough to know that there is much more demand for US television series than Robot Chicken. (Modern Family for example, comes to mind)

The real challenge here is if Netflix UK has the same ownership rights as Netflix US. Otherwise they will sit no differently than Lovefilm.

Disclaimer - I'm American, but currently live in the UK.

[1] - http://www.lovefilm.com/

How so?

If LoveFilm don't change their package prices it won't be hard... For the same price they give 2 hours of streaming a month; note that most films are over this length.

Edit: Didn't see chrisfarms comment below. Also the new movie selection on Netflix is rather poor.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3441920

Out of all 4 of the films on there, there are none that I want to watch.

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