Acorn TV, AMC Network’s British programming focused streamer, is to launch in the U.K. at the end of the month.
Launching on April 29 with dramas such as ITV’s “Foyle’s War” and the BBC’s “Keeping Faith” as well as the British-produced Acorn TV original “Queens of Mystery,” the service will charge £4.99 ($6.20) per month in the U.K. or £49.99 ($62) a year.
Acorn TV claims more than one million paid subscribers in the U.S., where it offers dramas, mysteries and comedies from the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Scandinavia.
Acorn TV is offering a 30-day free trial for a limited time, and will be available on devices such as Roku, Fire TV, Android, Apple mobile and Apple TV, and says it is coming soon to Amazon Channels and Apple TV Channels.
The streamer is pushing into an increasingly competitive U.K. SVOD market, which has seen launches by BritBox, Disney Plus and Apple TV Plus in recent months. Its most significant competition is likely to be ITV and BBC streamer BritBox, which offers programming from the U.K. broadcasters and is priced £5.99 ($7.45) a month.
Catherine Mackin, managing director of Acorn Media Enterprises, the U.K.-based development division for Acorn TV, said it would continue to expand its commission and co-production slate. Acorn TV will add exclusive new shows every week, including Irish period mystery series “Dead Still” and New Zealand thriller “The Sounds.”
It has commissioned several series, including “Queens of Mystery,” “Agatha Raisin,” “Dead Still,” “The Sounds,” and British crime drama “London Kills.” It has also co-produced Irish family drama “Blood,” starring Adrian Dunbar, Irish comedy “Finding Joy,” created by and starring Amy Huberman, and Welsh thriller “Keeping Faith,” starring Eve Myles.
“Queens of Mystery” is created and co-written by “Doc Martin “and “New Trick’s” Julian Unthank, and is a contemporary spin on the classic whodunit.
The lineup also includes wartime detective drama “Foyle’s War,” recent adaptations of Agatha Christie novels “And Then There Were None,” “Partners in Crime” and “The Witness for the Prosecution,” ITV drama “Girlfriends” and BBC drama “Accused.”
Acorn TV, which owns a majority stake in the Agatha Christie literary estate, launched in the U.S. in 2011, commissioning, co-producing and licensing productions from U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
Acorn TV expanded internationally in 2018 and is now available in Australia, New Zealand and Latin America, among other territories.