BSkyB tightens its grip on Hollywood blockbusters

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The satellite TV company has tied up a multi-year deal with Universal Pictures, locking out LoveFilm and Netflix

The Bourne Legacy

Satellite broadcaster BSkyB has tightened its grip on Hollywood blockbusters by agreeing a multi-year deal with NBC Universal, which sells the rights for Universal Pictures in the UK and Ireland.

It means BSkyB will have exclusive rights to films including The Bourne Legacy and Anna Karenina, locking out arch rivals Netflix and LoveFilm for the next four to five years.

The deal, thought to be longer than its existing three-year agreement, gives BSkyB exclusive first pay-TV rights to new and archive films include Snow White & The Huntsman, The Bourne Legacy, Les Miserables, Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, Gladiator and American Pie.

BSkyB has also sewn up the rights to offer the films on Now TV, the video on demand service it launched in July to take on the newly arrived US rival Netflix and LoveFilm.

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Andy Clough
Andy Clough

Andy is Global Brand Director of What Hi-Fi? and has been a technology journalist for 30 years. During that time he has covered everything from VHS and Betamax, MiniDisc and DCC to CDi, Laserdisc and 3D TV, and any number of other formats that have come and gone. He loves nothing better than a good old format war. Andy edited several hi-fi and home cinema magazines before relaunching whathifi.com in 2008 and helping turn it into the global success it is today. When not listening to music or watching TV, he spends far too much of his time reading about cars he can't afford to buy.