LOVEFiLM signs ABC deal

LOVEFiLM has added more content to its streaming service following a deal with ABC.

The film rental service, which is launching an ABC TV on-demand app across connected TVs, Xbox 360 and the iPad, will now be able to show ABC series such as Lost and Desperate Housewives.

However, LOVEFiLM will not have access to the entire ABC TV library.

The ABC deal follows an announcement last week that LOVEFiLM had secured licensing deals with the BBC and ITV.

LOVEFiLM is under pressure from rival Netflix, which launched in the UK and Ireland last week with a one month free trial introductory offer.

LOVEFiLM has two million subscribers in Europe, mostly in the UK. By comparison, Netflix – a leading player in the US market – has 24 million subscribers.

Last week, Netflix founder and chief executive Reed Hastings said Sky Movies and Sky Atlantic were Netflix’s biggest competitors in the UK (Sky has around 10 million UK customers – half of which are thought to be movie subscribers).

Talking about LOVEFiLM, he added: “They’ll do fine in DVD-by-post, but we’ve been doing streaming a lot longer. We have delivered two billion hours over the past three months. We’re in Apple TV, they’re not. We’re integrated with Facebook, they’re not.”

Netflix does not have a deal with ABC.