CBS Takes All Access International: NBCU Says So Long to Seeso
Though its flagship production—Star Trek: Discovery—hasn't even taken off yet, CBS All Access is already expanding. CBS Corporation announced it will take the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service international in a partnership that involves the CBS Interactive and CBS Studios International divisions. The service will make its way into Canada early next year, with additional markets to come.
“CBS All Access is growing faster than we anticipated domestically, and now represents a whole new opportunity internationally, as well,” says Leslie Moonves, chairman and CEO of CBS. “By going direct-to-consumer around the world, we will facilitate new connections between the global audience and our industry-leading premium content."
The service is ahead of growth projections. In 2016, CBS predicted CBS All Access and Showtime's streaming offerings would have 8 million subscribers combined by 2020. But the two should have over 4 million subscribers the end of this year.
There might be a hitch to those international plans, however: International markets won't get Star Trek: Discovery. As TechCrunch reported, CBS already sold Canadian rights to Bell Media and rights for 188 other countries to Netflix.
Meanwhile, streaming plans aren't going nearly as well for NBCUniversal, which announced it will shut down Seeso later this year. Streaming service VRV will pick up some of Seeso's original series, including HarmonQuest, My Brother, My Brother, and Me, Hidden America With Jonah Ray, and The Cyanide and Happiness Show.
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