Netflix service coming to the UK and Ireland in early 2012

Netflix has just launched its subscription streaming service in the UK and Ireland. Anyone can pick up a month's free trial now, which can be extended for £5.99 or €6.99 per month after that. Complete series of TV shows are available to stream immediately, including US content like Prison Break and local UK produce like The Only Way is Essex. That is, of course, in addition to a wide library of movies you can stream. Content variety is still not as broad as Netflix would like it, but the company promises that new material will be continuously added to the available catalog. You'll be able to stream to your smart TV, Blu-ray player, console, Mac, PC, tablet, or smartphone. Netflix has compatible apps for the vast majority of screen-equipped devices.

Thanks, Liam!

We suspected the UK launch of Netflix's streaming service was near when the app showed up on the PlayStation 3, and we've now received multiple reports that the service is in fact live for PS3 owners. It's priced at £5.99 per month with the first month free, and the app is now also appearing on UK-based Apple TVs — though it appears to not be active on that platform just yet.

According to The Guardian, the service is kicking things off with a number of new content deals in hand. Sony, Disney, Paramount, Channel 4, and ITV are said to be among the partners, joining the likes of Miramax and the BBC. In the first suggestions of a new ad blitz, readers have spotted ads for the UK service on IMDb, while Engadget notes that paid ads are now showing up in UK-based Google search results. The ad also appears when searching on Google Ireland, suggesting a tandem release, though no price is given there. XBox 360 and Wii owners don't have to worry about being left out of the party, either: the Google ads list support for those two gaming platforms as well.

While we've known that Netflix's streaming service will be launching in the UK and Ireland sometime early this year, the company's kept mum on exactly when. The wait may soon be over, as the Netflix app has begun showing up on the homescreens of UK PlayStation 3 owners. A reader sent us the above photo, and while the service isn't live yet — signing up for an account brings up a "We'll be available in the UK soon" message — the rollout does seem to indicate that Netflix is gearing up for the official launch. We don't have pricing details or a full list of content partners just yet, but one thing's for sure: fans of the BBC's programming should be very happy.

Thanks, Peter!

Spooks, Torchwood, Top Gear, and the eternally popular Doctor Who — all these BBC shows will be available to stream as part of your Netflix subscription when the American entertainment service launches in the UK and Ireland early next year. Netflix and the BBC just revealed their agreement for streaming of previous series of those and other programmes produced by the British broadcaster. No financial details are being disclosed and, unlike most of Netflix's other UK deals, this is not an exclusive, but it's still a major scoop for the US newcomer. The BBC's own TV catchup service, iPlayer, keeps some prior episodes of most shows, but they tend to have an expiry period after their terrestrial broadcast and the complete series are rarely available. Now Netflix is ensuring that little oversight will be corrected.

Netflix subscribers in the UK and Ireland will soon be able to stream Miramax content to their TVs, tablets, set-top boxes, and smartphones. The deal joins those signed with MGM and Lionsgate UK, leaving Netflix subscribers in the UK and Ireland with plenty of choice content when the service launches in early 2012. However, unlike those other deals, the Miramax agreement doesn't boast exclusive streaming rights for new films during the pay-TV window.

The deal secures streaming access to catalog titles such as Pulp Fiction, Cold Mountain, Gangs of New York, Chocolat, and Chicago to name just a few. Miramax titles are already available to subscribers in the US and Latin America.

Netflix has secured an exclusive multi-year licensing agreement with Lionsgate UK — a subsidiary of Lions Gate Entertainment — to stream its first-run feature films to UK and Ireland subscribers during the pay-TV window. That means only Netflix subscribers will have subscription streaming access to films such as The Hunger Games, Stalone's The Expendables 2, and the Dirty Dancing remake within one year of their theatrical releases. UK and Ireland subscribers will also have "watch instantly" access to Lionsgate UK catalog titles such as Reservoir Dogs, Blair Witch Project, and Good Night and Good Luck, to name just a few.

The Lionsgate UK deal echoes a similar Pay-TV-window exclusive that Netflix announced with MGM last week as the company gears up for its UK and Ireland debut in early 2012.

Netflix has begun laying the groundwork for its debut in the UK and Ireland next year with the announcement of a new content licensing deal with MGM. The two companies are already familiar with one another from their relationship in the US, but the deal for the UK and Ireland grants Netflix an extra little perk. The digital streaming service will have an exclusive among subscription service providers on first-run feature films from MGM during the so-called pay TV window. That means that Netflix subscribers will be assured of seeing movies like the upcoming Hobbit prequels to the Lord of the Rings trilogy within a year of their theatrical release, during which time no other service — and let's face it, we're only really talking Lovefilm here — will have them. The usual "extensive selection" of the MGM back catalog will also be up and ready for consumption once Netflix makes the journey across the Atlantic. This multi-year agreement marks the first of what's sure to be a litany of licensing deals announced by Netflix over the coming weeks. The company will surely seek to have all the major studios on board as it strives to make a positive first impression by offering the most comprehensible library of content possible.