Channel 5 has signed four new content partnership deals for streaming service My5.
The agreements with PBS America, Together channel, Little Dot Studios and BET will add a further 1,500 additional hours to the platform over the next year.
The first content from the deals will appear this month, along with further content from A+E Networks, which already distributes programming from its Blaze channel over My5.
James Tatam, VP of Commercial, Digital & Operations, Channel 5 commented “Viewers have come to expect a lot more from streaming services and this new slate of partners accelerates the development of My5 as we take it from player to platform. With a diverse range of high-quality content from our partners, and from across the Channel 5 portfolio, we know there’s something for everyone. We look forward to announcing further content partners in future.”
Distributing third-party content is not unique to Channel 5; All4, part of Channel 4, recently signed a deal to distribute content from the Vice network.
The My5 deals cover PBS America, the UK version of the US public broadcaster PBS that will broadcast a slate of documentaries including Secrets of the Manor House and the Secrets of Stonehenge (pictured).
Little Dot Studios will launch with content from two of its owned thematic web channels, including human interest documentary channel Real Stories, which reaches 1.5m subscribers on YouTube, and science and engineering channel Spark.
Meanwhile, content from the Viacom-owned channel BET will include hit scripted drama Being Mary Jane and reality series Chasing Destiny.
