Way back in January last year we reported that Amazon-owned LoveFilm was partnering with ITV & BBC Worldwide to boost its streaming catalog in the UK, with the BBC element extended to LoveFilm’s German continent later that year.
Now, LoveFilm has announced an extension to this deal with BBC Worldwide for 2013, which will see new content from the BBC’s global commercial arm made available to UK subscribers on its Instant on-demand service.
Indeed, while the US version of The Office was already available on LoveFilm, the original UK version will also now be made available, as will Ricky Gervais’ follow-up hit Extras. In addition, the first series of Luther will be made available ahead of the broadcast of the second series on terrestrial TV.
Other shows added to the LoveFilm roster include Primeval, Jonathan Creek, and a slew of factual shows, including Guinness Book of World Records 2013 edition of Top Gear.
LoveFilm recently announced a partnership with NBCUniversal International TV Distribution, in a deal that saw on-demand access given to a slew of American TV shows, including the US version of The Office (Steve Carrell) and 30 Rock (Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin). This followed LoveFilm inking a multi-year deal with NBCUniversal in early 2012, but with a strong focus on movies.
Some reports have suggested that LoveFilm Instant has been a better destination for movies rather than TV shows, with Netflix UK out-muscling the Amazon-owned company in that respect. So this deal will at least go some way towards ensuring that LoveFilm continues to grow its content across more than one vertical.
And in related news, LoveFilm also announced that its HD (720p) streaming service will be added to HD-ready connected BRAVIA TVs and Blu-Ray players from Sony in both the UK and Germany. The LoveFilm app first launched on Sony BRAVIA TVs in the UK in March 2010, then in Germany a year later.
Feature Image Credit – Thinkstock
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