Netflix Scores MGM Content for the U.K.

BEVERLY HILLS: Netflix has signed a multi-year licensing deal to feature first-run movies from MGM on an exclusive basis for its streaming service in the U.K. and Ireland.

MGM titles will be available for Netflix members in the U.K. and Ireland to watch in the pay-TV window. The service is headed to those countries in early 2012. Among the titles that will be run exclusively on Netflix within one year of its local theatrical release are The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Zookeeper, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters and 21 Jump Street. A number of catalogue titles are also to be available, including Fargo, West Side Story and The Usual Suspects.

‘We are delighted to be entering the U.K. and Ireland with a legendary studio like MGM at our side,” said Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief content officer. “And we are excited to be extending our relationship with MGM from the U.S. to these important markets and proud to be the exclusive home for their films in the traditional pay-TV window.”

“We are thrilled to grow our partnership with Netflix as they expand into the U.K. and Ireland,” added MGM’s co-chairmen and CEOs, Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum.
 
“Developing this relationship further will help us bring our films, both old and new, into the homes of our loyal audiences with the great ease Netflix offers customers,” said Roma Khanna, MGM’s president television group and digital.