Bloomberg News
Friday, December 23, 2011
LONDON — Netflix may find itself boxed out of the most coveted content in Europe's $76 billion pay TV market.
In Britain, a deal with broadcaster ITV Plc probably won't include the most recent episodes of successful shows such as Downton Abbey, a person with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be named by Bloomberg News because the talks are confidential.
An agreement with the British Broadcasting Corp. last week allows Netflix to offer shows such as Top Gear, but only six months after the broadcaster has aired them.
Netflix's early entry in the U.S. market helped it become the biggest video-streaming service, even spurring premium channels HBO and Showtime to offer shows online. In Europe, the video-streaming service will have to wrest digital rights away from a cabal of powerful broadcasters who own most of the popular content ...