Sky to take on Netflix with launch of its NOW TV online service in Spain

NOW TV is coming to Spain for €10 per month, and will certainly challenge Netflix’s dominance of the market.

Sky’s NOW TV has been a slow-burn success in the UK, creeping up on Netflix’s on-demand, streaming dominance to claim a large portion of the market.

By offering a good balance of original, high quality content and a broad selection of classic and new movies, NOW TV has taken on Netflix at its own game and, alongside Amazon’s Instant Video service, brought some much-needed competition to the world of in-home entertainment…

And now Sky is preparing to launch in Spain to challenge Netflix’s near-monopolisation of the market there. According to the Sunday Telegraph, Sky sees Spain as the ideal launching-off point for a Europe-wide expansion.

NOW TV will be offered to Spanish households for €10 per month, which would make it an attractive alternative – or supplement – to Netflix, which has enjoyed a largely unchallenged head start in the Spanish market.

It is also reported that Amazon is eyeing Spain with a view to launching its Instant Video service in the country before the end of 2016.

Research by Netflix found that only 27% of Spanish households subscribe to Pay-TV, compared to more than two-thirds of British households. Hence, the opportunity for market growth is vast, even given Spaniards’ propensity to spend more of their leisure time outdoors on account of the excellent climate.

However, even in southern Spain the winter months can sometimes be rather chilly, making the idea of an evening curled up on the sofa with the option of NOW TV and Netflix programming on demand sure to be an attractive one for millions of Spaniards.

The most cited reason among those Spaniards who do not currently have pay-TV is cost, but as the economy improves, the attraction of paying €10 per month for hours of entertainment becomes more apparent.

For Sky, expanding into Spain comes with some risk. Despite innumerable bars along the Costa del Sol being adorned with the firm’s famous logo – usually to advertise the presence of Premier League football within – the company does not have a satellite operation in Spain, opting years ago not to try to take on the might of Canal+ and Vivendi in the country.