Streamers step up with niche TV content
PASADENA, Calif. — It’s been six years since Netflix launched its first streaming series, “Lilyhammer,” so by now most consumers are familiar with original programming on Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. CBS All Access made a splash last year with the debuts of “The Good Fight” and“Star Trek: Discovery.”
But there are other, more niche-oriented services available to consumers — called SVODs for Subscription Video On Demand in industry parlance — including YouTube Red, Crackle, Acorn.tvand Britbox.
Acorn.tv
Where broadcast and cable networks want TV shows that draw the largest, youngest audience, streaming services just want paid subscribers. Many don’t sell advertising, so they’re not overly, concerned with the demographics of their viewers.
Acorn ($4.99 per month, commercial free) offers mysteries, comedies, procedurals and serialized dramas from the U.K., Australia, Ireland, Canada and New Zealand that occasionally require subtitles due to thick accents.
OnMonday, Acorn debuts British import “Girlfriends,” a sixpart contemporary drama about three older women — played by Miranda Richardson (”Blackadder”), Phyllis Logan (”Downton Abbey”) and Zoe Wanamaker (”Agatha Christie’s Poirot”) — facing challenges in the workplaceand in their home lives.
“From Acorn’s perspective, a show like this is so perfect for what we do,” said Mark Stevens, chief content officer for Acorn Brands, during the recent Television Critics Association winter 2018 press tour. “And if you took a show like this and put it on a broader, bigger network, there’s agood chance it would get lost.”
Britbox
Streaming service Britbox ($6.99 per month, commercial free), created by the BBC and ITV just 10 months ago, will revive the 2012-14 PBS series “The Bletchley Circle” for its first original series, “The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco.” This sequel will follow two of the original’s characters, Millie (Rachel Stirling) and Jean ( Julie Graham), as they travel to
America (circa 1956) to work with two U.S. codebreakers to solve a string of murders.
BritBox offers a mix of British favorites (“Inspector Morse,” “Cold Feet,” “Ballykissangel,” classic “Doctor Who”) and new productions.
“What sets us apart from all the others is our ability to present many of these shows within hours of their U.K. premiere,” said BritBox president Soumya Sriraman. “Fans of British shows no longer have to wait for these favorites to cross the pond and clear customs.”
Upcoming productions include mystery series “Maigret” (Feb. 1), starring Rowan Atkinson in his first dramatic role as a French detective; tense thriller “Trauma” (March 14), centers on a father (John Simm) who blames a trauma doctor (Adrian Leter) for the death of his teen son; family comedy “Mum” (season two debuts in May), stars Lesley Manville as a mother in her late 50s finding her way in life after the death of her husband.
YouTube Red
A subscription spinoff of the regular streaming video service, YouTube Red ($9.99 per month, commercial free) has moved into production of original series, often starring established YouTube stars (think: Tyler Oakley, the recently disgraced Logan Paul), but increasingly YouTube Red offers the types of programs that could have been made for traditional outlets such asMTV or The CW.
Next week YouTube Red premieres “Step Up: High Water” (Wednesday), a 10episode music-and-dancefilled drama inspired by the “Step Up” film franchise. The series focuses on young dancers at a performing arts school in Atlanta and stars Naya Rivera (“Glee”) as a school administrator and singer-songwriter NeYo as the school’s founder.
Executive producer Adam Shankman (“Hairspray”) said “Step Up: High Water” returns to the tone of the first movie, which he described as a drama with some dancing.
“It’s not a dance show,” said series creator Holly Sorenson. “It’s a show about dancers. And the stakes of the people in this world are just really high because it’s set in a low income neighborhood and the people that have the opportunity to study at this amazing school that is a complete invention; it’s a matter of life and death for them.”
Crackle
The only free-to-view streaming service with scripted originals, ad-supported Crackle (soon to be renamedSony Crackle) focuses on action-packed dramas with appeal to a younger, more male audience that may access Crackle through a video game box such as Xbox360 or PS3.
In addition to a VRthemed movie, “In the Cloud” (Feb. 8), this year Crackle brings back animated comedy “SuperMansion” (April 12) and live-action dramas “Snatch” (no date) and “Start Up” (no date) and adds “The Oath” (March 8), a 10-episode drama about gangs made up of police officers starring Sean Bean (“Game of Thrones”) and Ryan Kwanten (“True Blood”). (Crackle canceled its first original scripted drama, “The Art of More,” after two seasons.)
‘Faith Under Fire’
“Faith Under Fire: The Antoinette Tuff Story,” which filmed in Pittsburgh for a few weeks last June, debuts at 8 p.m. Saturday on Lifetime.
Toni Braxton stars as the title character in this cable movie based on a real-life incident in August 2013 in Decatur, Ga., when a gunman (Trevor Morgan) stormed an elementary school and Ms. Tuff talked him into surrendering. Yaya DaCosta (“Whitney”) plays a 911 operator, and Malik Yoba (“Empire”) plays a police sergeant. “Faith” was directed by Vondie Curtis Hall.
Channel surfing
NBC’s “Timeless” returns for its second season at 10 p.m. March 11 following “American Ninja Warrior: USA vs. the World” (7 p.m.). … Natalie Portman hosts “Saturday Night Live” Feb. 3 with musical guest Dua Lipa. ... CBS will revive “Murphy Brown” for 2018-19 with star Candice Bergen and writer Diane English returning. ... Meryl Streep will star in HBO’s “Big Little Lies” season two. ... Freeform ordered a second season of “grown-ish.” … Disney XD’s animated “Star Wars: Rebels” returns for its final run of episodes at 9 p.m. Feb. 19 featuring the appearance of Emperor Palpatine, voiced by actor Ian McDiarmid, who played the role in the “Star Wars” movies.
Tuned In online
Today’s TV Q&A column responds to questions about Hallmark Channel movies, “Undercover Boss” and a WTAE anchor/reporter. This week’s Tuned In Journal includes posts on “Bellevue.” Read online-only TV content at http://communityvoices.post-gazette.com/ arts-entertainment-living/ tuned-in.
This week’s podcast includes conversation about “The Alienist,” “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” and awards shows honoring TV. Subscribe or listen to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette podcasts at iTunes or at https://soundcloud.com/ pittsburghpg.