Netflix Could Offer Offline Viewing, But Only in Poor Countries

Offline viewing of its shows, documentaries, and movies is one of the most sought after features that customers of Netflix have been hoping for. Now, there’s a possibility that it could happen, but only for countries with low bandwidth. For those in the U.S. for example, online streaming will still be the norm.

Speaking to CNBC, Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said that offline viewing would be a great idea for areas with poor internet connection. Since online streaming is bandwidth intensive in order to be enjoyed fully, especially at 4K definition, slow connections would be a problem.

"We have talked a lot about this over the years and our belief is that broadband and Wi-Fi become more and more ubiquitous, available in more and more places that you are, more and more minutes of the day," Sarandos said. Now as we've launched in more territories … They all have different levels of broadband speeds and Wi-Fi access. So in those countries they have adapted their behaviors to be much more of a downloading culture.”

When Sarandos was pressed for more details on when the service will become available, he replied that Netflix was looking at the option and would make a decision at some point. Meanwhile, its competitors in the form of Amazon Prime Instant Video are already offering the service to its customers, Gizmodo notes.

This news is less likely to excite U.S. customers once they figure out that they won’t be able to watch high definition movies on the go without overclocking their data. It’s also a bit of a low point for a company that seems to be losing many of its movies in its library.

On that note, users could always get around the restrictions on offline viewing via VPN. Some customers have been doing it for years to watch movies available only in some countries. This should be no different.