The launch of Netflix and local subscription video on demand (SVOD) providers Stan and Presto has driven BitTorrent activity down over 40 percent in Austraia, according to Netflix head of content Ted Sarandos.
Joining Netflix CEO Reed Hastings for the opening keynote of CES2016 in Las Vegas, Sarandos specifically singled out Australia as a market where a competitive streaming landscape had delivered wins over piracy.
Despite only being in the Australian market for under a year, Netflix' growth has outpaced even the company's most ambitious projections.
CEO Reed Hastings described Netflix as the "first to start...the binge era" referring to the past-time of watching multiple episodes of a show, commonly described as "binge watching".
Hastings was welcomed with a rock-star like reception from the capacity crowd, with queues snaking more than 200 metres to gain entry to the first major event on the CES calendar.
Hastings described the current state of content distribution as a 'revolution'
"Entertainment and technology continue to transform one another, from radio to broadcast to cable to internet TV. What consumers really wanted was to be able to choose when to watch – the VCR let them do that to some degree, and then the DVR made it a little less clunky. With the internet we can give people exactly what they want, exactly when they want," Hastings said.
"Tune in has been replaced by personal choice. We live in an on-demand world, and there is no going back."
Netflix is now in 70 million homes globally, and in the last quarter viewers watched over 12 billion hours of content.
With growth still firmly on the agenda, Hastings announced a further 130 countries would receive Netflix over the coming year.
But notably, China is a market that will not be joining the Netflix fold.
Joining Hastings on stage, Sarandos showcased upcoming exclusive content, ending any lingering doubt that Netflix was simply a streaming service.
CES 2016 will be attended by over 200,000 delegates over 4 days. Information Age will be providing coverage of major events and announcements.