ISP Virgin Media Begins Pilot of Netflix Movies on TiVo with 40000 UK Homes

Cable operator Virgin Media has today become the first UK Pay-TV provider to reach an agreement to offer the Netflix unlimited movie streaming service via its TiVo based broadband Video-on-Demand (VoD / IPTV) platform, which will begin this week with a pilot of the app in 40,000 homes.

The new Netflix app means that Virgin Media’s 1.7 million TiVo households will be able to watch all of the streaming giants movies and TV shows through their set-top box. A full roll-out of the service is expected to follow “later this year“.

But the arrival of Netflix on a Pay-TV service, while good news, is still somewhat of a moot point since it’s already available on everything from Smartphone’s to laptops and even video game consoles. Similarly you’ll still need a Netflix subscription to be able to view the content, which costs £5.99 a month.

Bill Holmes, Netflix’s Global Head of Development, said:

“The UK has given Netflix a fantastic welcome and we’re excited to be partnering with Virgin Media to bring an amazing Netflix experience to Virgin Media customers.”

The move should help to strengthen Netflix against the markets other unlimited movie streaming services, such as the notable LOVEFiLM Instant and recent entrant Wuaki.tv that’s half the price.

On the other hand Netflix also offers its own set of original series including House of Cards, Hemlock Grove, Arrested Development and Orange is the New Black, not to mention Netflix exclusives like Breaking Bad.

Customers that are invited to take part in the new pilot should note that the Netflix application will be available in the Apps & Games section of Virgin Media TiVo, with Netflix members able to log-in using their existing credentials and new members able to sign-up via the app.