German commercial broadcaster Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland will launch its free-to-air TV channel for the fans of US series on March 21, 2018.
Now US will show well-known productions such as Suits, Anger Management, Glee, Breaking Bad, White Collar, King & Maxwell and 12 Monkeys as well as free-to-air TV debuts, for example Lizzie Borden – kills! with Christina Ricci and new episodes of Modern Family.
Now US will initially be distributed exclusively as an OTT service on TV Now, the streaming platform of Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland. Directly after their broadcast on the linear channel, the programmes will be available free-of-charge on TV Now’s catch-up service.
Internet users will be able to access the livestream of Now US along with all other free-to-air channels of Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland through TV Now Plus for a monthly fee of €2.99, a spokesman told Broadband TV News. The subscription can be cancelled monthly; the first 30 days are free.
Uses can watch Now US on smartphones, tablets, Apple’s streaming box, the Apple TV App, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV and also stream the channel to TV sets. The channel will initially be offered in SD resolution only, but an HD version is possible at a later stage, according to the broadcaster.
Broadband TV News understands that Now US will not remain just an OTT service. The channel will use at least one traditional broadcast infrastructure – cable, satellite, IPTV or DTT – at a later stage, according to sources familiar with the venture.
With Now US, Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland will offer a total of nine free-to-air channels following RTL, RTL II, Vox, n-tv, Nitro, RTLplus, Super RTL and Toggo plus.
