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Lovefilm to offer BBC Worldwide and ITV archive TV shows

Lovefilm to offer BBC Worldwide and ITV archive TV shows

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Lovefilm signs deals with BBC Worldwide and ITV to offer archive TV shows ahead of Netflix UK launch.

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Amazon's Lovefilm subscription video on-demand (SVOD) service is expanding even further in the UK, adding extra ITV and BBC shows to its growing number of existing offerings. It feels like not a month goes by without Lovefilm announcing new streaming rights, and the latest deal allows Lovefilm to stream archive shows from ITV and BBC Worldwide. Popular shows such as Doctor Who, Spooks, Inspector Morse and Cold Feet will all be available to watch on-demand from the service, but this deal doesn't include access to new content typically found on BBC iPlayer or ITV Player. Coupled with streaming deals from Sony Pictures and Warner Brothers UK, Lovefilm continues its subscription video on-demand dominance in the UK largely untouched.

Netflix, Lovefilm's upcoming American rival, is set to launch in the UK and Ireland in early 2012, and will offer a strong alternative to Amazon's service. The company has also secured rights to Spooks and Doctor Who, with the added bonus of Top Gear, a popular motoring show that has amassed fans both sides of the pond. Lovefim's BBC and ITV announcements might steal some thunder away from the imminent launch of Netflix, but all eyes will be firmly locked on the inevitable competition between the pair in 2012, and how HTML5 influences the streaming TV market.