JustWatch, a company that provides a search engine and guide for streaming movies and TV shows, is now moving directly into the streaming business itself. On Tuesday, the company behind the popular guide that is used by 50 million people will launch JustWatch TV. The new streaming service will include content from 30 partners and will offer both free and paid tiers, as well as a movie rental business.
The media and entertainment company behind the streaming guide, the JustWatch Group, initially announced its plans to develop streaming last month. At the time, it said partners such as Paramount, New Regency, Fremantle, Bleecker Street, and Vortex Media were on board. The company has since announced other content partners, including Cineverse in the US, LEONINE Studios in Germany, SND in France, and Altitude in the UK
The 12-year-old company has long been known for its online guide to movies and TV. Essentially, it’s a “TV Guide” for the streaming era, helping users navigate a landscape where movies and shows move from one service to another, making it harder to keep track of what’s streaming where.
Available in 140 markets worldwide, the guide offers streaming options for more than 500,000 movies and shows across more than 1,500 service providers worldwide. This “where to watch” information and streaming chart data are also used to support some 1,400 partner websites and apps and are valuable to studios, distributors, streamers, and agencies that use the data to target their campaigns across social media platforms such as Meta, YouTube, TikTok, and others.
Now the company believes there is an even greater opportunity to grow its audience data and insights by running its own service.
“At a time when there is so much choice, but with so many people constantly looking for a place to find their favorite movie, the series they just heard about, or something exciting that fits, it’s a great moment to be a hub for all things entertainment,” said Quentin Carbonell, JustWatch SVP of Global Content Acquisitions and Strategy, in an email shared with TechCrunch. “Through our own service with titles to watch directly on JustWatch TV, we can grow our already massive audience, while continuing to direct them to all our streaming partners. This is a natural continuation of our mission to contribute to the entire ecosystem, from the big screen to the small.”
The new streaming service will be available within JustWatch’s existing apps and website across 12 markets, including the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand.
Its free tier offers a selection of ad-supported titles, while the ad-free version, JustWatch TV Plus, offers more than 300 ad-free titles in the US, as well as other exclusive features, such as advanced filters and the option to hide previously seen or disliked titles in the guide.
A movie rental store will also initially be available in the US, UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, with more markets to follow over time.
While the ad-supported tier competes with free streamers like Tubi and Plex, the Plus tier will compete with low-cost streamers like Roku’s $2.99 per month ad-free service, Howdy. It is similarly priced at $3.99 per month or $49.99 for a lifetime subscription. (The latter is an interesting way to price streaming, given the evolving content costs, but JustWatch believes there is additional value in the collected data.) Paid subscribers can also take a 10% discount on hundreds of rentals in the JustWatch TV Store, the company noted.
Like most low-cost services, JustWatch focuses its content lineup on older movies and shows, as well as more indie content.
Another unique feature is that users are able to influence the content of the service to a certain extent. JustWatch says users will be able to request titles they want to see to help shape what comes to the service.
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