Netflix’s founder and CEO, Reed Hastings, says free-to-air television will be extinct in 16 years in 2030.

Speaking at Netflix event in Latin America earlier this week, Hastings compared broadcast television to the horse and cart and said it will simply be a ‘casualty of evolution‘.

· Is this Australian television’s best bloke?
· Can Netflix Australia lure customers?
· New way to watch: Netflix Australia coming in March

“It’s kind of like the horse, you know, the horse was good until we had the car,” he said.

“The age of broadcast TV will probably last until 2030.”

According to Digital Trends, this is not the first time Hastings has called an end date for broad cast TV, reporting that he has been “spreading the gospel of broadcast TV’s demise for years”.

Netflix last week announced it will launch in Australia and New Zealand in March, 2015.

However, tens of thousands of Australians have already accessed the US service through virtual private networks (VPN’s) to watch Netflix Original shows like Orange Is the New Black and House of Cards.

While there is no details on subscription prices to the new service, Australia is undergoing a television revolution in part thanks to Netflix’s imminent arrival on local shores.

Every player in the Australian market, from Foxtel and Seven, to Fairfax and Nine, and Ezyflix and Quickflix, have announced changes to their services in the past months.

A Foxtel spokesman last week said the subscription pay-TV company welcomed Netflix’s arrival.

“Foxtel welcomes competition, we believe in offering consumers choice,” a Foxtel spokesperson said.

“The Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) market is in its infancy and the entry of new players will help grow awareness of the category.

“Foxtel is confident that it has the best possible content, delivered by world leading technology and that it can meet the needs of consumers, whether they want the full Foxtel experience or the simplicity and convenience delivered as SVOD through Presto.”