Netflix tipped for UK launch following Lionsgate deal

Netflix is being tipped to launch a UK service after inking a content deal with Hollywood producer and distributor Lionsgate.

The streaming and postal service is understood to have agreed a multiyear deal with Lionsgate – having recently inked a US deal with the mini-major that gives it access to Lionsgate-distributed scripted series Mad Men.

Should Netflix launch in the UK it would provide premium content providers with a new, lucrative outlet in the territory. In the US it has shown a willingness to pay top dollar for premium TV and movie rights.

Netflix has laid out ambitious international plans and launched a service in Canada last year. It said this week that it has passed the million subs mark there, ten months after launch.

It will roll out across Latin America later this year and CEO Reed Hastings has said it will launch in up to two international markets a year from 2012.

Alongside the UK, Spain is also thought to be one of the countries in which it will launch first.