Streaming guide JustWatch becomes a streamer itself

JustWatch, a company offering 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’s used by 50 million people is launching JustWatch TV. The new streaming service will feature content from 30 partners and will offer both free and paid tiers, as well as a movie rental store.

The media and entertainment company behind the streaming guide, the JustWatch Group, initially announced its plans to venture into streaming last month. At the time, it said partners like Paramount, New Regency, Fremantle, Bleecker Street, and Vortex Media were on board. The company has since announced other content partners, including Cineverse in the U.S., LEONINE Studios in Germany, SND in France, and Altitude in the U.K.

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 up with what’s streaming where.

Available in 140 markets globally, the guide provides 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 power 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 like Meta, YouTube, TikTok, and others.

Now the company believes there’s an even bigger opportunity to grow its audience data and insights by running its own service.

“At a time where there is so much choice, yet with so many people constantly searching for a place to find their favourite film, the series they just heard about, or something exciting that fits them, it is 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. “By having 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 one.”

The new streaming service will be available within JustWatch’s existing apps and website across 12 markets, including the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand.

Its free tier will offer a selection of ad-supported titles, while the ad-free version, JustWatch TV Plus, will offer more than 300 ad-free titles in the U.S., as well as other exclusive features, like 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 U.S., U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, with more markets to follow in 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 will be 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 will be additional value in the data collected.) Paid subscribers will also be able to take 10% off on hundreds of rentals in the JustWatch TV Store, the company noted.

Like most low-cost services, JustWatch’s content lineup focuses on older movies and shows, as well as more indie content.

Another unique feature is that users will be able to influence the service’s content to some extent. JustWatch says users will be able to request titles they want to see to help shape what comes to the service.