We all love to binge to our heart's content on Netflix, but many people have been noticing for awhile now that that the Netflix library is getting smaller, not bigger. Licensed movies are quietly pulled off the shelf while the streaming service switches gears into original content and you'd be hard-pressed to find something as even as classic as The Godfather to watch. Well, as it turns out, America isn't the only country facing this extremely first-world problem, and a recent study shows what country really has the worst Netflix.
The good folks over at Streaming Observer conducted a study to see how many movies from IMDB's Top 250 List were actually available on Netflix in the United States. They found that only 12% of the list was available. After the story was published, they received comments from people saying that the Netflix was way worse in their own country. That lead to a new study to compare the 12% of the US with the Netflix of seven other countries.
Americans will be happy to know that they aren't in last place. No, we're second to last. The UK has the distinct honor (?) of having the worst Netflix library. According to the study, the UK only has 28 of the top 250 movies on IMDB. If there is a bright side to that, it's that the UK is one of the only countries surveyed that has Vertigo (and somehow the only one to have Die Hard; what's up with that?).
Coming in first place is the Netherlands, which has a whopping 40% of some of the highest rated movies on IMDB. According to the study, it has the most of any country that was surveyed. Second place goes to Brazil with 85 titles, followed by Mexico with 72. So, if anyone feels like moving, know that you'll at least always have something to put on TV in the Netherlands. As for why all of these countries have such a differing amount of titles, it essentially boils down to the fact that licensing rules tend to be different per country. For whatever reason, the Netherlands makes it easier for Netflix to put up more titles than any other country in the survey.
This is mounted on top of a growing frustration among Netflix users who feel like they're missing out on content. What's the point of paying a monthly fee if you can't even watch most of the best movies? It's been proven that Netflix's library content has declined drastically from when the streaming service first opened its doors. A lot of that is due to the fact that Netflix has been actively changing gears for some time now into making its own content, which is extremely expensive, and several titles need to be cut in order to produce such high-quality programs.
Well, we may not all have Fargo or The Wolf of Wall Street, but at least there's still Stranger Things, Orange is the New Black and a lot other shows on Netflix to enjoy. That counts for something right?
