Netflix on Monday launched its streaming video service in the U.K. and Ireland.
The service, which allows viewers to stream TV shows and movies to their Internet-connected devices, costs 5.99 Pounds a month in the U.K. and 6.99 Euros in Ireland. The expansion means Netflix will now compete with Amazon’s LoveFilm, Europe’s leading film subscription service with more than 2 million subscribers in the U.K., Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway.
Netflix said it was launching the service with a large collection of "Hollywood, local and global" TV shows and films. Viewers in the new markets can begin a free one-month trail, available now.
Currently available for streaming are full seasons of the popular U.K. TV shows The Only Way is Essex, Top Gear, The Inbetweeners, and Torchwood; as well as American favorites such as Breaking Bad, 24 and 90210, Prison Break, and Damages.
Among the films available for steaming are 3:10 to Yuma, Blitz, The English Patient, The Expendables and Paul Blart: Mall Cop. A range of documentaries and independent films are also available, including The 39 Steps, The Aviator, Man on Wire, The Men Who Stare at Goats, The Princess Bride, and Once.
“We are starting 2012 in the best possible way: by giving consumers in the U.K. and Ireland an amazing entertainment experience,” CEO Reed Hastings said in a statement.
New content will be "added continuously," Neil Hunt, chief product officer at Netflix, wrote in a blog post Sunday.
Users can access the content on a range of devices, including smart TVs, game consoles, computers, Blu-ray players, tablets, or smartphones.
The move to expand its business into the new markets follows a series of interesting months for Netflix. In mid-summer, the company made the unpopular announcement that it would separate its DVD and streaming services and up the prices for both.
This was met with so much disdain that it was followed by an apology from CEO Reed Hastings for the abrupt manner in which the price changes were announced, but he then went on to announce another major overhaul. Netflix would split its DVD and streaming services into two businesses: Netflix for streaming and Qwikster for DVD rentals. Less than a month later, the company backpedaled and announced that it would ditch the whole Qwikster thing and carry on as usual.
Despite the series of snafus, the company last week reported that more than 20 million subscribers streamed more than 2 billion hours of content during the final three months of last year. Following the announcement, Netflix stock rose 11 percent—its largest gain in nearly a year.