NATIONAL NEWS - Netflix Inc.’s video-streaming service has officially gone live in 130 countries including South Africa on Wednesday night, covering almost the entire globe except China, in a huge global push by Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings to counter slowing growth in the United States.

The South African Netflix website was switched on Wednesday and advertised prices starting at roughly R127 per month with a free month’s trial.

Popular TV shows that South Africans can watch on Netflix include hits such as Suits, Dexter and Weeds.

India, Nigeria, Russia and Saudi Arabia were among the major countries where the service was launched, Hastings said at a speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

“This is much sooner and much more ambitious than expected,” Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said.

Netflix, which had expanded into more than 60 countries before Wednesday’s launch, previously said it aimed to reach 200 countries by the end of 2016.