Early Netflix was also not centralized, as they served pre-existing content. Streaming-service exclusives is what ruined this - but as it's an effective revenue generator (it is the only reason anyone would have 5 different streaming subscriptions), that part is unlikely to go away...
But right now, I'd say distributors and national license agreements are the biggest issue. Having to VPN around to find content is a pain, and because each country has its own version of content, which subtitles are available also differ - for example, Danish Netflix generally only has Nordic languages for subtitles, and does not have English subtitles. And then all you get is some low streaming quality.
This is the kind of thing that powers the whole "piracy has better UX" argument - having to VPN around, not have the right languages, and getting a poor quality vs. the effort to download a version with whatever subtitles you want.
Disney+ is so far the only service I've seen where this is largely a non-issue - but I also want to see stuff not owned by Disney.
But right now, I'd say distributors and national license agreements are the biggest issue. Having to VPN around to find content is a pain, and because each country has its own version of content, which subtitles are available also differ - for example, Danish Netflix generally only has Nordic languages for subtitles, and does not have English subtitles. And then all you get is some low streaming quality.
This is the kind of thing that powers the whole "piracy has better UX" argument - having to VPN around, not have the right languages, and getting a poor quality vs. the effort to download a version with whatever subtitles you want.
Disney+ is so far the only service I've seen where this is largely a non-issue - but I also want to see stuff not owned by Disney.