Netflix Announces European Expansion Plans

LOS GATOS, CALIF.—Netflix will launch in Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg later this year. The video service announced the expansion into continental Europe late Tuesday last week, but didn’t give an exact launch date, or details on pricing or catalog.

The company said that upon launch, broadband users in these countries can subscribe to Netflix and instantly watch a curated selection of Hollywood, local and global TV series and movies, including Netflix original series, whenever and wherever they like on TVs, tablets, phones, game consoles and computers.

Netflix has more than 48 million members in more than 40 countries watching more than one billion hours of TV shows and movies per month. The continued European expansion follows the launch of Netflix in the U.K. and Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden (2012) and the Netherlands (2013).

People interested in becoming Netflix members in France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg can go to www.netflix.com today and sign up to receive an e-mail alert when Netflix has launched, according to a release.

Mark Hallinger