A+E Networks launches $3.99-a-month SVOD service for Lifetime movies

The channel known for such TV movies as Kept WomanStalked by My Neighbor and Her Infidelity is launching its own SVOD service.

Offering a collection of Lifetime TV movies, A+E Networks launched Lifetime Movie Club today, priced at $3.99 a month and, so far, only available on Apple's iPhones and iPads. No pay-TV subscription is required. 

The service's movie selection will be shifted according to seasons and marketed based on themes, such as "Summer Lovin'." The service will have 30 movies up at any given time. Lifetime has a library of more than 300 titles, and movies will be shuttled on and off the service.

A+E already distributes a small portion of Lifetime's movie library through Netflix, but the programming has to compete for eyeballs with thousands of other Netflix titles, including highly promoted Netflix originals. There's "no guarantee our content gets surfaced and viewed," Dan Suratt, executive VP of digital media and business development at A+E, told the Wall Street Journal.

Suratt said A+E is being careful not to over-distribute its content through SVOD channels. "But we see it as being complimentary to our Lifetime channel," he said of the new Lifetime Movie Club.

Lifetime is also reportedly considering an SVOD component for its History Channel brand.

For more:
- read this Wall Street Journal story
- read this Variety story

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