After pioneering the nonfiction programming template that formed the backbone the cable industry for the last two decades, Discovery Communications founder John Hendricks is looking to become a part of the SVOD revolution that's currently undermining pay-TV.
The 62-year-old entrepreneur, who recently retired from the Discovery board but still owns 2 percent of the company's stock, is looking to launch a new subscription video-on-demand service, CuriosityStream.
Targeted to go live in March, the service will include documentaries and other nonfiction programming themed around science, nature, history and technology.
The service will also have a 4K production component, with filmmaker David Conover commissioned to shoot a 20-part nature documentary called Big Picture Earth in the Ultra HD format.
Consumer pricing would range from $2.99 to $9.99, depending on various tiers.
"As many in the industry know, I have long dreamed of a content-on-demand service that uses advanced media to empower the enduring human desire to understand the Universe and the world around us," Hendricks said, in a statement. "The advent of online streaming technology utilized by Netflix and other successful video streaming services has created a video transmission infrastructure that finally allows viewers to watch what they want to watch, when they want to watch it. Of course, this same on-demand, ad-free transmission framework can deliver premium factual content as well as premium entertainment content. CuriosityStream is the world's first ad-free, SVOD service that addresses our lifelong quest to learn, explore, and understand. For consumers, our aim is to provide the first and best on-demand video streaming destination that aggregates and curates the world's best factual content."
For more:
- read this CuriosityStream press release
- read this Wall Street Journal story
- read this Hollywood Reporter story
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