Netflix, the TV and movie streaming service has launched in UK and Ireland. The service is expected to face strong competition from several online rivals, including Loveflim, owned by Amazon that recently exceeded two million subscribers.
According to the research conducted on last summer Netflix was the single largest internet traffic driver in US. However, the move was followed by a difficult period for the company when it lost 800,000 customers in last year’s third quarter.
Netflix is a US based service launched in 2007 that has over 20 million online subscribers in 47 countries. Films will be available on several platform including games, consoles, smartphones and tablets.
Netflix is highly relying on variety of locally produced content including the entire season of UK favorites like Top Gear, The Only Way is Essex, The Inbetweeners and Torchwood. However, Netflix’s chief executive Reed Hastings was bit protective while talking about the specific UK goals for this newly launched service.
He told BBC, “We think about it as trying to get to millions of members over the next few years. We very much think of it as a long-term investment.”
He was also aware of the challenge that Netflix is facing as it expands. He said, “The big competitor in the UK for us is Sky Movies and Sky Atlantic. Loveflim is mostly DVD by post…and we’re both really competing Sky.”
