Image credit: Screenshot taken at netflix.com by Inge Loots

This morning I woke up to the best news in YEARS: Netflix has come to The Netherlands! To me, this is the best news ever, because now I finally can watch TV the way I want it. Over the past few years, I’ve gotten so frustrated with Dutch television that I cut my cable and after I got broadband internet, I ditched my old TV as well.

Cable Cutting

The reason I cut my cable subscription was that for the €20 I spent every month on cable I got nothing in return. Sure, there are like 10 Dutch TV stations, but they all air either trash TV or TV that’s otherwise not tailored to my taste. There are some stations available that I would watch, but they are ‘premium’, so you end up paying over €70 euros per month to get one, maybe two channels you would watch (SyFy and HBO). That’s just not worth it to me. When I visited friends in the United States, they introduced me to Netflix and I was green of envy. I so wished I would have that at home!

Netflix vs. Cable

Now, I’ve signed up with Netflix for €7.99 per month and I can watch the TV series and films I want to see on demand too. Watching the shows you want to see at any time you want. As often as you want. What’s not to love about that? Many of the HBO or SyFy shows I otherwise would pay €70 per month for are now available for a fraction of the cost and as a bonus I get access to so much more.

Dutch public TV interviewed the CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings. It’s kind of funny to hear how the Dutch interviewer doesn’t seem to understand the reasoning in American culture. For example: if you want to have (and keep) the best employees, you pay them more than the competition. This seems to be a novel idea to our interviewer. Watch it here:

I’ve signed up and got the first month for free, so expect some movie reviews coming up in the next few weeks and months. You betcha I stay subscribed. I am even planning to buy a new TV, just to watch Netflix on it!

Want to try out Netflix for free? Sign up here.