The international streaming giant Netflix announced that its services are now available in Israel and 129 other countries, The Times of Israel reported on Wednesday.
Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings shared the news during his keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. “With this launch, consumers around the world — from Singapore to St. Petersburg, from San Francisco to Sao Paulo — will be able to enjoy TV shows and movies simultaneously — no more waiting,” Hastings said.
“While you have been listening to me talk, the Netflix service has gone live in nearly every country in the world except China,” he added. In a statement, Netflix explained that it was continuing to “explore its options” to provide the service in China.
The Jerusalem Post reported that India, Nigeria, Russia, and Saudi Arabia are among the new markets to be served by the streaming platform. Netflix, which operated in over 60 countries prior to Wednesday, is now available in more than 190. The company has expressed a goal of reaching over 200 countries by the end of 2016.
Most of the new markets will have access to platforms in English, though Netflix did add Korean and Arabic services. Its platform in Israel currently offers settings in English and Arabic, but not Hebrew. Crimea, North Korea, and Syria were not granted access to the service due to American restrictions.
Established in 1997 as a mail-order movie service, Netflix has evolved to become a leading streaming service with over 69 million subscribers and its own award-winning shows, including House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black. Because of licensing agreements with Israeli television providers, the former series will not be available to Israeli audiences through Netflix, nor will the newest season of the latter.
Also at the Consumer Electronics Show, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich announced that his company was teaming up with the Israeli startup Replay Technologies to give sports fans a new viewing experience in the stadium and at home.
[Photo: CES / YouTube ]