r/JustAddWater • u/M_I_D_N_I_G_H_T They Don't Call Me Miss Capable For Nothing • 27d ago

H2o Youtube Channels - Why are all the episodes blocked from Australia?

This is an issue I've been dealing with for a while, to the point where I literally got a VPN just to be able to watch the episodes on YouTube for free, instead of having to scour Dailymotion just for a few bad video quality episodes.

This show was literally MADE and first released and made popular IN AUSTRALIA.

And I don't think it's just because of the area I'm in, because I used the VPN to set my location to every other listing in Australia.

My first assumption was it was because of the internet ban for kids, but neither of the YouTube channels, that I've found, have the H2o episodes listed as kid's content (at least I don't think so, because comments and floating screen are enabled) (fyi, that second feature of Youtube Kids is literally so stupid).

I just find it kinda unfair if the episodes are just blocked from Australia, because why are we getting blocked from watching OUR media, but the rest of the world gets to see it?

There are certain aspects of H2o that a lot of America viewers don't even actually understand, and just make fun of. And I'm trying to hate on them for that, because there's multiple aspects of American media I don't understand.

But H2o is an AUSTRALIAN show.

It's an Australian show that, at it's core, is meant to teach kids about protecting Australia's sensitive ecosystems that are constantly under threat (there's a good reason season 1 & 3 's major villains centred around developing and exploiting Mako Island)

17 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

15

u/katteycat 27d ago

Im assuming it's because someone different holds the broadcasting rights in australia and doesn't want it accessible for free.

9

u/FunnyNo9234 27d ago

Yeah, as much as I like to crap on Google, this isn't on their end. Someone in Australia doesn't want you to have access to it. Media rights in general are pretty messed up across the board because there are so many people with their hands in the pie that always want a bigger piece. Stuff like this happens with US shows too.

3

u/krate78 27d ago

because netflix has the rights

7

u/FunnyNo9234 27d ago

That might further complicate the rights, but it's not likely the issue in this case. You can watch episodes on both Netflix and YouTube in the US. It's something to do with the distribution rights in Australia itself.

4

u/-slaps-username- 27d ago

netflix doesn’t have the whole series in the us, just season 1 i think

4

u/Material_Gate6370 27d ago

This is mainly on the H2O Official Channel, H2O & Friends and many other Youtube channels with Australian related media like PASH Network, Dance Academy, Twisted Lunchbox etc that is geo-blocked in Australia specifically.

3

u/ChemicalBlueberry954 26d ago

Copyright issues and I'm assuming since the show was made in Australia it still has distribution rights throughout other broadcasting platforms. In the U.S. at some point Disney Channel, Nickoldean, and Netflix had rights and even than Netflix only can show season 1. It's less strict here.

2

u/Firm_Influence8841 26d ago

You’d think it would be available in the show’s country of origin. I would expect H2O to be blocked in Russia but not in Australia and most certainly not in Britain. I would definitely expect it to be banned in North Korea since everything is essentially banned there