The Criterion Collection’s streaming service has a launch date: April 8.
The company had previously made its library of classic art-house and international films available through streaming partners — first Hulu, then FilmStruck. However, FilmStruck shut down last fall, apparently a victim of its corporate parent WarnerMedia’s bigger streaming plans.
Criterion subsequently announced that it would both make its movies available through the yet-to-launch WarnerMedia service and launch a streaming service of its own, called The Criterion Channel.
Today, Criterion announced the channel’s launch date and started taking signups from “charter” subscribers. In exchange for signing up early, you’ll get a discounted subscription fee of $9.99 per month or $89.99 annually (compared to the regular price of $10.99 per month or $99.99 annually), and even before the launch, you’ll be able to watch films as part of the channel’s Movie of the Week series.
The Criterion Channel will be available in the United States and Canada, and should work on desktop, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, iOS and Android devices.
Updated with the correct pricing.