Acorn TV is a British-American over-the-top VOD streaming service offering television programming from Australia, Canada, other Commonwealth countries, Spain, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. In other countries, it is available on a variety of devices including Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Chromecast, and Roku. The service is owned by RLJE Films, a joint venture between AMC Networks (who owns a controlling 83% stake) and the RLJ Companies (who owns the remaining 17%).
History
Acorn DVD has distributed British television in the United States since 1994, originally selling
VHS tapes before moving into
DVD and
Blu-ray media.
Continuing the company's expansion into new formats, Acorn TV launched as a subsection of Acorn's direct-to-consumer
e-commerce website in 2011.
In 2013, Acorn TV was relaunched as a standalone service with expanded content offerings and monthly and annual subscription options.
In 2013, the service began offering exclusive content, starting with the United States premiere of
Doc Martin, Series 6.
In 2015, Acorn TV was the only niche streaming service to have a program nominated for an
Emmy Awards when
was nominated for Outstanding Television Movie.
As of December 31, 2016, it had 430,000 paid subscribers.
Acorn TV launched in the United Kingdom as a service in its own right on April 29, 2020.
On 24 November 2022, Acorn TV announced without further elaboration that it would no longer be available in South Africa by the end of 2022, and requested that subscribers cancel their memberships.
On August 29, 2023, it was announced that Acorn TV would end its services in Portugal as of September 29, 2023.
On December 20, 2023, Acorn TV announced that it would not be available in Latin America after February 6, 2024.
Programming
Acorn TV offers a combination of new and classic mysteries, dramas, comedies, and documentaries. The service licenses content from producers and distributors including ITV, Channel 4,
BBC Studios, All3Media, DRG,
ZDF, and Content Media.
Original programming
Because its parent company, RLJ Entertainment, has a 64% stake in
Agatha Christie Limited, the licensing arm of the Christie estate,
Acorn TV was able to offer the United States premieres of the final episodes of
Agatha Christie's Poirot in summer 2014,
BBC co-production
Partners in Crime in September 2015,
and
The Witness for the Prosecution in 2017.
RLJ Entertainment also owns all rights to Foyle's War,[Michael Starr, "‘Dead Still’ gives look into creepy world of Victorian-era death photography". The New York Post, May 19, 2020.] and Ms Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries.
United States premieres
Since its launch, Acorn TV has offered the United States premieres of some or all seasons of British series including
Detectorists,
,
,
and
Midsomer Murders.
After initially focusing exclusively on programming from the United Kingdom, Acorn TV expanded its content offering to include programs from other territories, including Australia's
A Place to Call Home,,
,
and
Janet King,
New Zealand's
The Brokenwood Mysteries, the Australian-New Zealand series
800 Words, Canada's
Murdoch Mysteries and
19-2,
and Ireland's
Clean Break and
Striking Out.
In 2015, the service began offering foreign-language dramas.
The service also offers a selection of documentaries, including historical, travel, arts, and science titles.
On August 5, 2019, the Australian-New Zealand mystery series My Life Is Murder
See also
External links
