Watch out, Netflix: Fullscreen’s $5/month video service is coming in April

Subscription video on demand services are becoming a dime a dozen, but Fullscreen is looking to stand out among the many when it launches next month. The media company announced today that its new video streaming service will launch on April 26.

Fullscreen’s ad-free VOD service will start at a lower price point than competitors such as Netflix, YouTube Red, Hulu, and HBO Now — the monthly fee will be $5 per month, reports Variety. For that price, subscribers will enjoy millennial-centric content, including feature-length films and series. Fullscreen will have over 800 hours of content at launch.

Although much of the service’s catalog will be licensed content initially, Fullscreen will also offer originals from Internet celebrities like Grace Helbig and Shane Dawson, both of whom are known for posting YouTube videos. The company’s approach includes tapping into its large talent network, which comprises some 75,000 creators.

“Fullscreen is one thing: It’s great original content for people who grew up with the social Web,” founder and CEO George Strompolos told Variety. “We think we can be the HBO Now of that space.”

Never mind that HBO Now’s subscriber base isn’t all that big compared to that of other rivals; there’s no denying that the premium network creates addicting content. Fullscreen seems to have that goal in mind and will start with originals like a reboot of Electra Woman & Dyna Girl, starring Helbig and Hannah Hart, and a talk show starring Dawson. As the number of originals grows, users will be able to watch films and TV shows from Warner Bros. Television, Sony Pictures, NBCUniversal, MTV, and others, ranging from Dawson’s Creek to Camp Takota.

It’s unclear how Fullscreen will fare in the crowded space, but the service should benefit from being marketed to the customer based of its major partner, AT&T. Its content will also be available on DirecTV’s three OTT services when they launch at the end of the year. In the meantime, Fullscreen will be available on the Web and via Google Chromecast, select Android phones, iPhone, and iPad.

from Planet GS via John Jason Fallows on Inoreader http://ift.tt/1RKm8c4
Stephanie Topacio Long