Turner Launching Streaming Movie Service

Turner Broadcasting said it is launching FilmStruck, a subscription video-on-demand movie service managed by Turner Classic Movies in collaboration with the Criterion Collection.

The service would be Turner's first direct-to-consumer video product.

FilmStruck will feature a mix of art house, indie, foreign and cult films and allow subscribers to watch movies wherever and whenever they prefer. Among the titles available on the service are A Hard Day's Night, A Room With A View, Blood Simple, My Life As A Dog, Mad Max, Breaker Morant and The Player.

The service will be ad free, like TCM.

"At Turner, we are dedicated to engaging fans wherever they are, and we're investing aggressively in content, new capabilities and new businesses to achieve that goal," said John Martin, CEO of Turner. "FilmStruck is a terrific example of our strategy to meet consumer demand for great content across all screens. It's tailor-made for the diehard movie enthusiast who craves a deep, intimate experience with independent, foreign, and art house films. And it takes advantage of TCM's powerful curation capabilities, as well as its proven track record in building a long-term relationship with passionate film fans."

Turner expects FilmStruck to launch in the fall.

"TCM is leading Turner's strategic move into the direct-to-consumer business with a truly differentiated and distinct streaming product that adds tremendous value to our portfolio," said Coleman Breland, president of TCM and Turner Content Distribution. "Together with our partners at the Criterion Collection, we are creating a must-have, premium film brand that will draw from the most celebrated movie libraries in the world."

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.