Netflix is trying to finalise a deal with ITV to make the streaming movie company’s archive available in the UK when the service launches.
According to a report in The Guardian, as Netflix gears up for its UK debut, it’s in negotiations with media owners to buy rights for shows and films from Warner Bros, BskyB and Channel 4, although the ITV talks are furthest advanced.
The news comes a day after the company confirmed it had secured a deal for exclusive UK rights to MGM films and marks the next stage in a bidding war for content.
For Netflix a deal would mean a huge marketing partner to help its UK ambitions and for ITV it fits with their strategy of building pay revenue
A tie-in with ITV, with commercial terms reportedly already agreed, could help Netflix as it tries to establish itself in Britain.
“For Netflix a deal would mean a huge marketing partner to help its UK ambitions and for ITV it fits with their strategy of building pay revenue,” one source told The Guardian.
The deal would show that lessons had been learned from the failure of the last big company making a play for UK digital streaming – Hulu – which signed-up big-hitting partners, such as News Corp and Disney, but lacked a mainstream local commercial operator.
According to The Guardian, ITV’s proposed deal with Netflix focuses on archive programming, not new output airing in the 30-day catchup window on the broadcaster’s online ITV Player.
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