back to article Netflix goes live in Blighty

CES 2012 Week Netflix goes live in the UK today, offering Brits streaming access to its collection of online content for £6 a month. The US company said it will also offer one-month trials for free. At launch, Netflix is offering films and TV programmes from All3Media, the BBC, CBS, Channel 4’s 4oD, Disney, ITV, Lionsgate …

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  1. JimmyPage Silver badge
    Meh

    Remember the discussion about Windows Phone ?

    Here's what I mean :

    "The company said it has playback client for Android and iOS phones ...."

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Big Brother

    I was going to sign up but it looks like having a Facebook account is mandatory! wtf is up with that?

    1. Arrrggghh-otron

      There is a link under the facebook buttons for signing up with an email address...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        I can't see any sign up option other than with Facebook?

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

          1. Old Tom
            WTF?

            Sign out of Facebook

            Seems that if you're logged into Facebook, then you don't see the non-facebook option.

            If you're not logged in, then you do see the non-Facebook option.

  3. This post has been deleted by its author

  4. David Evans
    FAIL

    I see its available in Ireland as well. Unfortunately the selection is terrible! Even worse than Acetrax, which I didn't think was possible.

    When these services finally get around to offering a decent catalogue, I'll bite, until then, what's the point in wasting a free trial on crap?

  5. spencer

    No Lovefilm for Wii

    ....Not the last time I checked anyway.

    1. Arrrggghh-otron

      The Wii is listed in the devices page...

    2. David Ward 1

      lovefilm & silverlight?

      Can you watch lovefilm on anything other than a computer, thought they moved to silverlight and there is no client?

      1. Shaun 1

        Lovefilm works on my PS3 and my 360. It's just the webpage that uses Silverlight

    3. Craigness

      Nor android

      The Android app doesn't do streaming, only searched and trailers.

    4. Eponymous Cowherd

      New Channel

      Its available as a Wii "Channel" from the Wii shop channel. Downloaded and fired it up, but it just said "coming to UK soon".....

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Goodbye Sky

    And Virgin, the Ripoff Britain Merchants !

    They dont have a better selection, either!

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Content

    Looking at what you can look at without signing up does not inspire me to give them my credit card details.

  8. JDX Gold badge

    re:Remember the discussion about Windows Phone

    NewFlix uses Silverlight IIRC so maybe it will just work without a special app?

    Also remember NF is not a new service, they've had iOS/Android clients a while now rather than building a new service and choosing not to support WP.

    I used NF when in the US and it was great, but they also had a great variety of streaming titles... LoveFilm was crap when we tried it.

    I also would prefer option to download (even with time-limited DRM) as well as stream.

  9. JDX Gold badge

    re: FACEBOOK

    yes it seems you need FB for the free trial at least?! Yuck.

    I was surprised to note that signing in with my US Netflix account (closed when we left the US) _seems_ to let me re-join as a UK member, and offers me a free month for coming back.

    1. Arrrggghh-otron

      You don't need facebook... I signed up for the trail without out linking to facebook.

      However, I'm not very impressed so far. Ignoring the derth of content (Spotify was missing lots of stuff when it first started), the video quality is terrible, though that could be my connection. The android client is useless on my mobile, though that could just be the age of the device. And so far of the 3 items I tried to watch one wasn't available 'instantly'* and then crashed firefox (so now using it on IE). The the web interface is slow and clunky having to switch between browsing and watching feels like an unnecessary step that you don't get with iplayer et al.

      *So this might suggest that there is a native Windows client for watching films 'non-instantly' though I can't find one anywhere so it probably refers to renting disks by post.

      I was expecting something akin to the Spotify user experience (seamless, painless, fast) but this feels like a step backwards. The jury is out and I have a few weeks to make up my mind if I want to pay...

      1. Arrrggghh-otron

        Breaking Bad - Breaks Silverslight/Windows?

        Well I watched 45 minutes of the pilot episode of Breaking Bad last night and then spent 45 minutes trying to figure out what the Nxxxx error code meant when Netflix refused to play the last 3 minutes. It wanted to play episode 2 instead.

        Killing IE and trying again or trying another browser didn't fix it. In the end I rebooted the PC and Netflix started working again. I guess Sliverlight is well hooked into the OS then...

        Anyway I was able to watch 3 episodes on projector and the video quality isn't too bad - about on par with a decent freeview channel. A way off HD but very watchable. I expect I could still have found a better quality torrent though...

  10. GettinSadda
    FAIL

    Wow - What a waste!

    I just went to the netflix site and had a look though their available films.

    I think the best way to describe the few options there is that they would be what you might expect to find left over at the bottom of the "bargain bin" at a garage, once all the good stuff had gone.

    Why on Earth did they go to all the effort of setting up a website, and presumably some small amount of streaming capability, just to fill it with that crap?!

  11. Citizen Kaned

    btw author....

    lovefilm is VERY restrictive on what you can watch online. i got the trial but it was very limited and nothing i fancied. the quality was also terrible. maybe its changed over a year but i assume netflix lets you watch modern stuff and not just old films.

    1. Shaun 1

      I just watched Dark Knight this weekend streamed to my Xbox through Lovefilm for free as part of my package, so there's certainly some newer stuff on there

      1. Citizen Kaned

        a film from 2008...

        not exactly new ;)

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Try your local lirary

    I abandoned Lovefilm because discs were getting cracked by the postie forcing then through my vertical letterbox with a top flap. Lovefilm did not respond to my request to ship the rental discs in a case.

    Naturally I explored all online offerings as an overnight download service is what I really want - DVDs are so last century. As above posters say , online offerings are of a rubbish catalogue.

    So having permanently cancelled Lovefilm, I now order online and physically collect from the local library. Rental is £1.50 to £3.00 for a full week.

    1. jason 7
      Happy

      Local Library is the way!

      We've been doing this for a couple of years now. £2 for a new title for a couple of nights.

      10 minute walk to the library. Reservation is dead easy too.

  13. JimmyPage Silver badge

    To those complaining about selection ...

    I suspect you'll find it's not Netflix fault, it's the film companies restricting what's available - probably to try and maximise revenue from the sales of physical media. Old dog, new tricks etc ....

    1. David Evans

      @JimmyPage

      I think we all know why the online selections for the services are crap, and you're absolutely correct about the publishers. Unfortunately that doesn't help Netflix get access to my hard-earned. And I have to say, the titles on Netflix are particularly bad, (Acetrax and Lovefilm have better selections, and Blinkbox is almost decent).

      1. JimmyPage Silver badge
        FAIL

        nail - head !!!!

        *I* wouldn't pay for it

        *You* wouldn't pay for it

        which means the film companies have (YET AGAIN) driven people towards "other sources"

        Which I find ironic, given the story last week, in El Reg

        http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/1/2012/01/04/study_piracy_legal_alternative/

  14. MJI Silver badge

    Netflix DVD rental

    We used this for a while - but they pulled out of the UK after a short trial

  15. Tom_

    I use Lovefilm and am happy with the discs in the post delivery method. I've tried streaming from them and found it rubbish due to a lack of interesting content and low image quality. My connection also drops now and then and the Lovefilm player (I used the PS3 one) couldn't cope with it. If it had just paused until reconnecting and then carried on, I'd be ok with it. Instead it just died and that was that.

    My broadband has a 40GB limit anyway, so what's the point? Sigh.

  16. Absent
    FAIL

    Is that it?

    Are the titles in the "browser selection" section honestly all there is? That's even worse than Lovefilm, who's too poor to pay for. It's worse that than the shittiest of abandoned torrent sites.

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    £1 more than LoveFlim then..

    which does a streaming only service for £4.99 a month...

    Personally, I prefer the Blu-Ray by post AND streaming option from LoveFlim for £9.99, as streaming (even HD) is quite horrible due to extreme compression.

  18. NewOld86
    Thumb Up

    i signed up to this early this morning and watched a few episodes of a series id never seen before - the quality is fantastic and the choice of films and tv shows isnt to bad.

    Im taking advantage of the free trial at the moment, if Netflix can update the content on a regular basis they can happily have my £6 a month.

    Oh, I didnt need to sign in using Facebook either, just an email address

    1. Arrrggghh-otron

      Which series is it that you are watching? I'm curious to see if the low quality I'm getting is down to my connection or the stuff I'm choosing to watch.

      1. Anthony Prime

        Settings?

        In the account settings there's a bandwidth option, Good, Better or Best - along with a guideline of exactly how much bandwidth I'll be weeing up the wall to watch something.

        Good says 300mb per hour.

        1. Arrrggghh-otron

          HD

          I'd already cranked that up to max but it didn't make any difference.

          It works nicely at home, but it seems to struggle with the marginally faster connection at work. (And I checked the usage of the work connection - it wasn't being used much at the time).

  19. Sloping Shoulders
    Unhappy

    No good for those on slow broadband

    While I do sometimes get annoyed with Lovefilm, we are stuck in the sticks with broadband that grinds to a halt in the evening. A streaming service is pointless until BT get around to laying fibre or someone does something updated in the exchange

  20. mikeyboosh
    FAIL

    Initially was interested, looked at selection and was, quite frankly, appalled.

  21. squilookle

    Since Lovefilm appeared on the XBox and I should be getting a faster internet connection next week, I was considering rejoining LoveFilm, but I will have a look into this as well.

  22. Craigness

    Quality

    The quality of the catalogue can be seen in the "Popular Picks" section. I wouldn't pick any of these if I had a choice.

    https://signup.netflix.com/BrowseGenres/Popular-Picks/PP

  23. Eponymous Cowherd
    FAIL

    Farcebook

    It looks like Netflix have changed their signup page as there appears to be no eMail signup link any more. Even selecting the links from the many "you don't need Facebook to sign up" pages (e.g.:- https://signup.netflix.com/?locale=en-GB#useemail) still land you on the Facebook signup page.

    Quite interested in NetFlix, but not by signing up for Facebook. They'd have to pay ME £6 a month for *that*!!!

    1. Studley

      As has already been stated several times

      The email signup link appears if you sign out of your Facebook account first.

      Clearly a UI fail, but not as big a fail as those who are wailing in outrage whilst still poking their friends in another tab.

      1. Eponymous Cowherd
        FAIL

        Sign out of my non existent Facebook account?

        Fail yourself!

        I don't have a Facebook account. I don't want a Facebook account. If you could have been arsed to read my post you would know that I don't have a Facebook account and, therefore, could not have been signed into my Facebook account (on the account of me not having an account).

        It turns out the problem was browser related. When I tried in IE8, I got the sign in. In Firefox it seems to think you are signed into Farcebook, even if you aren't.

        1. Studley

          Works fine for me in Firefox

          ...so sadly we shall have to settle on a site fail.

          Unless you fancy pistols at dawn?

          1. Arrrggghh-otron

            Me too...

            FF worked for me too.

  24. Eponymous Cowherd
    FAIL

    Firefox Broken

    It seems that the sign up page is broken in Firefox (6.0.2). You *do* get the eMail option in IE8.

    Fail, because someone should have tested it.

  25. Matt 75

    lovefilm = junk mail galore

    Have never seen a firm so junk mail happy. even cancelling the service did nothing to stem the tide, nor did phoning them up and asking to be removed from their mailing list. I have since moved house but I bet they're still sending it through to the old address.

    I also never once got sent the top choice from my list.

    Wow that initial selection on Netflix is hilariously bad!

  26. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    stop complaining about range of titles available for streaming...

    Until the film studios get their collective act together, realise that they need to evolve their business models and allow companies like lovefilm and netflix to stream their content, no one is going to get access to recent/interesting/worthwhile titles for streaming. The hurdles the studios put in front everyone trying to distribute titles via streaming makes it nigh impossible to innovate/disrupt the market - for obvious reasons. Is it any wonder everyone pirates the content? They simply need to make it too easy to stream (i.e. too much effort to pirate) and things will begin looking up. Until then, those of us who prefer to remain on the right side of the law will continue to have access to a less than stellar catalogue.

    1. JimmyPage Silver badge
      Mushroom

      Yes ! Give the studios a chance

      They've only had 15 years.

  27. JDX Gold badge

    re:As has already been stated several times

    It is just as bad. How would a regular user know this was the case. I haven't been on FB for ages but am evidently still logged in... but never would have though logging out of FB would magically let me register by email.

    Major bug IMHO.

  28. JDX Gold badge

    re:Is that it?

    In short, no. I don't know why, but you can't (apparently) browse the full selection.

    Reg has mentioned several big deals for Netflix UK recently with sources such as BBC.

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    US selection

    Can anyone browse the US selection and see if it's just the UK that's got nothing worth watching.

  30. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Apple TV & Netflix

    Having just taken the free trial and added Netflix to my Apple TV, I've rung Sky and scaled them right back - I enjoyed that part the best, particularly as they insist my VDSL broadband isn't good enough for Anytime+!

    As I see it, for around half what Sky want I can have a decent enough back catalogue (let's not overlook the TV content which for ITV/4/BBC content isn't half bad) and use iTunes rentals for any first run movies I might want. Best of all it's all instant and I don't need to plan to record things.

    suits me just fine!

    1. GettinSadda
      WTF?

      What were you watching!!!???

      You really must have been wasting your money with Sky as according to the Netflix website their TV line-up is basically a few kids programs such as iCarly and Power Rangers, old programs from free channels such as The Forsyte Saga and Poirot, and such delights as Pimp my Ride UK and Dirty Sanchez.

  31. Snark

    Hmmm

    Well I thought I'd give it a try to see how it compared to lovefilm as hey its a free trial.

    First impressions

    A lot better selection of 'older' programmes and films than I expected from the meagre few shown on the pre-sign in pages (lovefilm score on that, letting you browse the actual library rather than just a few highlights). Definitely enough to fill in some gaps on some series I haven't seen all of or didn't catch first time around and werent worth buying the boxsets or renting at individual prices. Definitely some I want to see that are missing, but they are only 'DVD' on Lovefilm as well, and generally its a much better list than Lovefilms.

    The interface is SO much better than Lovefilm. Lovefilm seriously sucks if you just want to browse and it sucks even more browsing streaming. You can't just think I'm bored, I wonder whats on... its hard work wading through page after page after page. I've ended up giving up for streaming and just looking at the full A-Z. This is actually pleasant to use and browse around, just hovering over things to see more detail rather than click and wait and click and wait. The "training" of what you like is kinda fun just going round rating things you've seen and then waiting for it to suggest stuff.

    I've only tried streaming on the Xbox and it's got the same crisp interface I remember from the US version, quick to navigate around, comfortable to use, streaming quality good (if a little quiet).

    So far, thumbs up. It's a 'good' launch start that feels well prepared for.

    1. Snark
      WTF?

      Re: Hmmm

      Hmmm ok, starting to hate some things about the Xbox app. Why did they remove party just before they launched over here? Where is the recently watched list? Why the hell does it start playing something as soon as you go into the series? (In other words most of the complaints people in the US have been making since their update last month).

      Sadly though, it still less annoying than the lovefilm one, which says how bad that is...

  32. Eponymous Cowherd
    Happy

    Not too bad.....

    Trying out Netflix on Wii and Android. Quality pretty good on both. On the Wii, connected using a component video cable (480p) the picture looks better than most Freeview channels, the lack of obvious compression artefacts more than making up for the slightly lower resolution (480p as opposed to 576p) and certainly better than the BBC iPlayer "channel" (again, much less evidence of compression artefacts). Looks very nice on Android, though I note that owners of lower spec handsets have been complaining about sound synch issues. Playback OK on an iPhone 3G, though the UI seems a little "laggy" and slow to respond.

    Regarding the content, mostly older stuff, but plenty I'm interested in and well worth signing up for the free trial period. The complete set of Firefly episodes makes that worthwhile in itself, and there appears to be all episodes of the hilarious (IMHO) Coupling.

    I'll keep an eye on the new additions as the trial month progresses. If it appears that there will be enough to keep me interested for the following month, I'll stay signed up, otherwise I'll cancel.

    All in all, not a bad start.

  33. JDX Gold badge

    re:US selection

    It was great when we used it for a month... both series of Stargate Universe for instance. The content varies massively between countries, far more so than between providers.

    And I agree their interface is much better than LoveFilm and 4OD. On a par with iPlayer although very different... neat functionality for watching a whole series where it remembers the next one to watch even across different devices, etc (obvious but it's the details which swing it sometimes).

  34. Snark
    Devil

    Netflix vs Lovefilm article

    Andrew Orlowski's netflix vs lovefilm article doesn't allow comments so as it's relevant to the Netflix launch I thought I'd comment here.

    His premise is that there isn't much standalone market for the content Netflix offers. You have Sky and Virgin for TV and it's not going to displace them. Fair enough, I am not going to be getting rid of Virgin and my V+ box to watch new programmes. As he says, the kind of content on Netflix fills up the repeat channels. Also true, but it's so awkward to coherently watch a series repeated on a repeat channel. You get an episode here, an episode there, suddenly a gap and you never know if it will come back again. Heck, I never watch those channels except for filler for that very reason, it's just too much like hard work to try and watch an old series in any sequential order (CSI series 6 then series 2 then series 5 then...).

    No, what I want with my "not first run" TV is to watch it when I want, as I want, in the order I want. I want some some of service that lets me watch demand when I want to watch my video rather than hunting for it and having to keep it on my PVR for how knows long til I can piece together a series. Hey, what I want is a VoD service! I am actually really enjoying going back to watching things I didn't get round to first time or haven't seen in a bit. I've started Inspector Morse from the start. Coupling is on my list to rewatch. I missed several years of 24 which I can now watch when I want.

    It has already affected Virgin for me. I had a TiVo on order (just to make the "finding those things" easier) but as I can do find a bunch of programmes to work through without moving up from V+, and without paying the extra install and monthly charge.... It's cancelled. I'm happy to stick to Netflix to give me more managable content for now. I'm also happy not to have to play the Virgin game of "which series will be available this month" on VoD.

    Would it make me drop Virgin or Sky or going to the cinema? No. Will it make me stop watching those channels full of repeats? Heck yes. Would I sit and watch a repeated film on BBC or ITV when I can go and choose the older film *I* want to watch? Heck no.

    If either Netflix or Lovefilm manage to keep filling up their back catalogue I humbly propose those filler channels that don't make original content are the ones a decent VoD removes the need for. If Netflix caught on I could see their adverising as being the real loser in a Netflix vs Lovefilm battle.

    I hope Netflix manage to add back catalogue of more US shows then I'd be a very happy consumer.

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