New York – Turner Communications is expected to announce Tuesday that it is launching its own streaming video-on-demand service for film buffs this fall, according to a company statement.
Turner is partnering with New York-based film Distributor, Criterion Collection, which until now had offered all of its 1,100 films through Hulu.
Turner is launching its own streaming online service just months after reports surfaced that its parent Time Warner is in discussions to take a stake in Hulu.
The launch is jointly owned by 21st Century Fox Inc, Walt Disney Co and Comcast Corp’s NBC Universal.
Turner, which is a division of Time Warner Inc, is the latest in a wave of media companies to launch its own over-the-top video service.
This is to accommodate the growing number of younger viewers who are cancelling cable subscriptions in favour or watching content online, a practice known as cord-cutting.
The new service, called Film Struck, will focus on independent, foreign, art house and cult classic films that people know.
The film struck does not focus on original shows as streaming video providers, like Amazon, Hulu and Netflix, are increasingly doing.
The Film Struck launch is one example of what customers and investors should see from Turner in the next several months as the company focuses on being more consumer-centric, Chairman and CEO of Turner, John Martin said.
Coleman Breland, the President of Turner Classic Movies and Turner content distribution said, “Film Struck will not only feature films like “Mad Max,” “Cinema Paradiso” and “Seven Samurai,” but also will have filmmakers’ commentaries, bonus content and stories about the films themselves’’.
“We didn’t just jump into the fray and say let’s offer an SVOD (streaming video on demand) service. This is very targeted and focused,’’ Breland said.
Film Struck will be managed by Turner Classic Movies.
The company hopes to announce pricing for the service within the next 60 days, Breland added.
The service will be solely subscription-based and will not have any advertisements. (Reuters/NAN)