If the US wasn’t already Euro TV Central, it absolutely will be when Walter Presents, the UK streaming service for international telly, launches in the States. Vachement chouette!
It’s an embarrassment of riches, really. Viewers in the US have 15 services where Euro TV shows are available for streaming, download, and appointment viewing.
Soon we’ll have 16.
A little more than six weeks after the BBC made its announcement about BritBox, its soon-to-launch streaming service for new, classic, and exclusive British TV content in the US, Channel 4 has announced that Walter Presents, its streaming service for non-English-language world drama (and comedy), is also headed to the States.
Walter Presents, a joint venture between Channel 4 and Global Series Network (GSN), will be slightly different in the US than in the UK, even though there will be some overlap in the streaming content. In the UK the service is on Channel 4’s All 4 on-demand service, supported by advertising, and free for viewers. In the US it will be an ad-free, subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service, available on a variety of platforms and at WalterPresents.com, and cost $6.99 per month.
What will you get for your seven bucks? Quite a bit.
Walter Presents will launch in the US with 34 award-winning, top-rated, exclusive, and original first-run drama series from 12 countries, including Argentina, Brazil, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, and the Netherlands.
One is the multiple-award-winning political thriller Spin (Les hommes de l’ombre). Billed as the French House of Cards or Borgen, it explores the intense rivalry between two spin doctors — the seasoned master Simon Kapita (Bruno Wolkowitch, C.I.D.) and his protége Ludovic Desmeuze (Grégory Fitoussi, Spiral) — who become fierce competitors while backing different candidates for the snap election called after the President is assassinated.
Another is the highly-anticipated UK and US premiere of Valkyrien — the hit Norwegian thriller set in an illegal, underground hospital where surgeon Ravn (Sven Nordin, Struggle for Life) agrees to treat patients from the criminal underworld in return for secret facilities where he is desperately trying to find a cure to save his dying wife.
Each season of Walter Presents programs will be available in full for your binge-watching delight, and all episodes will feature high-quality, customized subtitles.
After launch the service will premiere two new series each month. By the end of its first year, Walter Presents expects to host more than 500 hours of premium international television programs.
By the way, that’s Walter in those two preview clips. Walter Iuzzolino is one of the co-founders and the curator of the streaming service that bears his name, which has been delivering brilliant non-English-language programs to UK-based Euro TV (as well as Latin American TV and Middle Eastern TV) fans since it launched across the pond one year ago this month.
Said Walter, “For years America has led the way with a string of iconic titles to become the undisputed home of great TV drama. But the rest of the world hasn’t stood still. Inspired by the quality of the very best U.S. drama, countries all over the globe are now producing extraordinary TV series, unforgettable stories which are becoming global smash hits. I am excited at the chance to introduce U.S. viewers to this TV treasure trove.”
Walter Presents will launch in the US in March 2017.
It will be rolling out to other international markets in the next year.
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