WarnerMedia is shuttering FilmStruck, the subscription video on demand platform it launched back in November 2016.
The WarnerMedia divisions that operate the platform, Turner Networks and Warner Bros. Digital Networks, announced the decision over Twitter Friday. The platform, the exclusive SVOD home for the prestigious Criterion Collection of classic movies, is no longer signing up new subscribers. It will officially shut down on November 29.
“We’re incredibly proud of the creativity and innovations produced by the talented and dedicated teams who worked on FilmStruck over the past two years,” reads a statement on the Criterion Channel. “While FilmStruck has a very loyal fanbase, it remains largely a niche service. We plan to take key learnings from FilmStruck to help shape future business decisions in the direct-to-consumer space and redirect this investment back into our collective portfolios.”
The decision comes following AT&T’s takeover earlier this year of Time Warner Inc., its subsequent rebranding of the Time Warner assets under the WarnerMedia moniker, and its revelation that it will focus on broadly targeted streaming platforms.
Earlier this month, Warner Bros. Digital Networks similarly shuttered DramaFever, an SVOD platform focused on Korean dramas, and Turner is closing youth-targeted digital content studio Super Deluxe.
As for FilmStruck, WarnerMedia never said how many subscribers the service had drawn.
IT is home to some 1,800 contemporary and classic independent, arthouse, foreign and cult films—not only from the Criterion Collection, but also the Warner Bros. movie studio’s library of classic films.
The service is priced at $10.99 a month for those who want access to the Criterion Collection; and $6.99 for those who eschew that option.
