Poland is becoming an increasingly important market for Netflix.
Just over a year ago the company announced plans to open an office in Warsaw that would act as a hub for the entire CEE region. At the same time, it revealed that it had allocated just over €100 million in 2020-2021 on the development of a local library and the production of films and series in the country. In doing so, it had created 2,600 jobs.
The office, which became operational in September 2022, supports Netflix’s activities in the 28 CEE markets it is present in. It also works closely with the local creative community across the region.
More recent developments have seen Netflix introducing a pilot project in Poland under which it is providing creators of popular local productions with additional remuneration and – perhaps more importantly – open an engineering centre in the capital, Warsaw. The latter, which Netflix announced earlier this week is now operational, is in many ways a vote of confidence in Poland by the streamer and further confirmation that it sees the country as its key market in the CEE region.
All this has come against the backdrop of a rapidly changing VOD market in Poland. Earlier this year saw the launch of SkyShowtime as part of a regional expansion, as well as TVN Warner Bros. Discovery and Ringier Axel Springer Polska (RASP) enter into a strategic partnership and relaunch the latter’s streaming service VOD.pl. Further changes await in 2024, when HBO Max will become Max and there will be question marks as to the future of Player and VOD.pl.
Despite all this, Netflix looks set to retain its leading position in the country for the foreseeable future. Latest data from Nielsen’s The Gauge show that it was the most popular streaming service in Poland in February, accounting for 1.8% of total TV viewership.
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