BT Group has inked a partnership with Netflix that will enable the U.K.-based provider to integrate the subscription video streaming service with the hybrid broadband/over-the-air YouView platform, which features a mix of more than 70 live TV channels, a VOD library, and a seven-day catch-up TV service.
YouView -- backed by BT, BBC, ITV, Channel 4, TalkTalk, Arquiva, and Channel 5 -- is powered by a video publishing system from Comcast-owned thePlatform.
BT, which added 38,000 TV customers in the third quarter, announced the Netflix dea Thursday in its second quarter earnings announcement. “We continue to focus on strengthening our TV proposition and are excited to announce we have entered into a partnership with Netflix that will allow our customers to sign up for Netflix alongside our other products and services, with the added convenience of paying on one bill directly through BT,” the company said.
“Rather than simply getting access to it as an app […] this is integrated into our proposition,” BT CEO Gavin Patterson said, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Virgin Media, the U.K.’s largest cable operator, provides access to Netflix on its TiVo-powered platform, with Netflix maintaining the direct billing relationship with the consumer.
Several other TiVo MVPD partners have also integrated Netflix with their leased boxes, including Com Hem of Sweden, Cable One, Suddenlink Communications, Grande Communications, RCN, Midcontinent Communications, GCI, and Atlantic Broadband. The Google Fiber TV service also bakes in the Netflix player, according to this customer support page.
Danish triple-play service operator Waoo! offers the Netflix app on leased set-top boxes made by AirTies that are powered by middleware from Nordija.
