JustWatch is a company that provides search engines and guides for streaming movies and TV shows, and now it is directly entering the streaming media business. On Tuesday, the company behind this popular guide, which has 50 million users, launched JustWatch TV. The new streaming service will offer content from 30 partners and will have both free and paid tiers, as well as a movie rental store.
The media and entertainment company behind this streaming guide, JustWatch Group, first announced its plans to enter the streaming industry last month. At that time, the company stated that partners such as Paramount, New Regency, Fremantle, Bleecker Street, and Vortex Media had already joined. Since then, the company has announced additional content partners, including Cineverse from the United States, LEONINE Studios from Germany, SND from France, and Altitude from the United Kingdom.
This guide is available in 140 markets around the world, offering over 500,000 movie and television program streaming options from more than 1,500 service providers globally. This information on "where to watch" and the streaming charts is also used to support approximately 1,400 partner websites and applications. It is of great value to studios, distributors, streaming platforms, and agencies, which utilize this data to conduct targeted advertising campaigns on social media platforms such as Meta, YouTube, TikTok, and others.
Today, the company believes that there are even greater opportunities to expand its audience data and insights by operating its own services.
This new streaming service will be integrated into the existing applications and websites of JustWatch and will be launched in 12 markets, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand.
Its free tier will offer some ad-supported content, while the ad-free version JustWatch TV Plus will provide over 300 ad-free films in the United States, as well as other exclusive features such as advanced filtering and the option to hide titles that have been watched before or are not liked.
Movie rental stores will also be launched first in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, and will then expand to more markets.
Unlike free streaming services such as Tubi and Plex, the Plus version will compete with Roku's ad-free service, which costs $2.99 per month. Its pricing will also be similar, at $3.99 per month, or a one-time subscription for $49.99. JustWatch believes that considering the constantly changing cost of content, this pricing model for streaming services is quite intriguing. However, the company is confident that the data collected will bring additional value. Paid subscribers will also be able to enjoy a 10% discount on hundreds of rental items available on JustWatch TV Store.
Like most low-cost services, the content lineup of JustWatch mainly focuses on older movies and TV series, as well as more independent content.
Another unique feature is that users can, to some extent, influence the content of the service. JustWatch indicates that users can suggest titles they would like to see in order to help shape what content will be provided on the platform.
