Netflix Looks to the Old World for New Growth

France, meet “Yeux Fous.” This month, Netflix, the world’s largest subscription streaming video service, will offer the original series Orange Is the New Black and other programming to six European nations, including Germany and France. It aims to reduce its reliance on the U.S. market and establish global dominance before Time Warner’s HBO Go and Amazon.com’s Prime Instant Video do.

The big question is whether Netflix can navigate rules that shield homegrown media companies and local culture. Shows that play well in one country may not in another, so Netflix will have to localize at least some content, a costly undertaking. “Europe is an attractive market for a subscription service,” says Richard Broughton, an analyst at researcher IHS. “People are willing to pay for TV subscriptions and are more willing to pay for media in general. [But] it is quite difficult for new entrants to compete.”