Netflix "coming to UK early next year"

US Lovefilm rival Netflix is hitting the UK early next year, according to a new report.

Variety claims Netflix will hit the UK and Spain in the first quarter of 2012 - so some time between January and March.

In the US Netflix subscribers can rent DVD and Blu-ray movies by mail, but given that's a US-only option, it may be that in the UK we'll only be able to stream.

If Netflix does launch in the UK, will it do so on a video game console?

In the US Netflix is available on the Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360. In the UK, the PlayStation 3 has Lovefilm and the BBC iPlayer, the Xbox 360 has Sky Go (formerly the Sky Player) and the Wii has the BBC iPlayer.