Netflix Inc and Starz Entertainment LLC reached a deal under which the DVD rental giant will provide approximately 2,500 titles from the latter. The movies will be provided from Starz’s broadband subscription service to Netflix’s Web streaming service, "Watch Instantly.”

The financial details of the agreement weren’t disclosed yet, but the important thing is that it’s done. Netflix made a giant step in its attempt to license newer content for its "Watch Instantly,” a streaming service that offers a library of over 12,000 titles. However, most of them are old releases and the deal with Starz will add a much-needed amount of freshness to the offer.

"The coupling of Starz Play with our growing library of streaming content is an important step forward for both companies and for consumer choice," Ted Sarandos of Netflix said.

“Our deal reflects the creative ways we are working with content partners,” the chief content officer added.

Netflix has been struggling for some time to obtain subscription rights from Hollywood studios to deliver digital content, especially newer movie releases such as "Spider-Man 3," "Ratatouille," "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" and others. Netflix’s 8 million subscribers by mail will soon have a wider, fresher offer.

The 2,500 new titles will be added to the library of "Watch Instantly" service. Subscribers with unlimited subscription plans won’t be charged extra. The offer also includes live feed of the Starz TV network, also free of extra charge.

Starz is also very interested in the deal because its cash flow will surely get better with the addition of the license fee paid by Netflix. Starz already has a pretty strong financial situation as the demand for its multiplex networks and its high-definition video-on-demand service is on the rise.

Starz, a unit of Liberty Media Corp, reached a similar deal with Verizon Communications.

About 1,000 titles were already added to Netflix’s Web site, while the rest will be available in a few weeks, the two companies said in a statement related to their recently-reached deal.