Universal Pictures and Top Up TV are working together to launch PictureBox,a video-on-demand subscription service in the UK.

The PictureBoxservice, owned by Universal, will launch this autumn on Top UpTV's new Anytime service (available to customers of Freeviewin the UK). PictureBox will feature current and library feature filmssuch as The Bourne Supremacy, BridgetJones: The Edge Of Reason and Shakespeare In Love.

Subscribers will pay amonthly fee to view feature films that will be downloaded and stored in the TopUp TV Anytime Digital TV Recorder. The catalogue of films,which will offer just seven features upon launch, will be updated daily withfilms being added.

"This deal underscores therapid growth and success of Freeview in the UK," said Belinda Menendez, president, NBC UniversalInternational Television Distribution. "PictureBox isone of the first services of its kind for premier film content, providingconsumers with a rich mix of programming, on demand, at an attractive pricepoint."

Added Beth Minehart, senior vice president of international on-demandlicensing for NBC Universal International Television Distribution: "PictureBox is a fantastic example of utilizing today'stechnology to enable new business models, and we look forward to exploring theexpansion of this and other new distribution models in the UK and beyond."

Universal had been one ofthe leaders in offering on-demand film content in the UK, striking downloads dealswith LoveFilm and British Telecommunications.