Philippa Braithwaite, Martin Clunes and chief content officer for Acorn brands, Mark Stevens on a panel promoting the TV show Manhunt. Shutterstock
Philippa Braithwaite, Martin Clunes and chief content officer for Acorn brands, Mark Stevens on a panel promoting the TV show Manhunt. Shutterstock
Philippa Braithwaite, Martin Clunes and chief content officer for Acorn brands, Mark Stevens on a panel promoting the TV show Manhunt. Shutterstock
Philippa Braithwaite, Martin Clunes and chief content officer for Acorn brands, Mark Stevens on a panel promoting the TV show Manhunt. Shutterstock

Streaming services catering to British TV lovers look to take share from US giants


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After watching the impeachment hearings recently, Salomé Samii turned to two streaming services to satisfy her Anglophile entertainment needs: Acorn TV and BritBox.

They’ve become her preferred form of escapism: Agatha Christie’s spinster sleuths, murder mysteries set in quaint villages, and constant servings of tea and crumpets.“It’s comfort television in this time of rising anxiety and stress,” said Samii, 50, a retired lawyer.

“No matter what happens, everyone makes a cup of tea and moves on.”

Far away from the main streaming battlefield, where media and technology giants are spending billions of dollars to compete with Netflix, Acorn TV and BritBox are competing for the wallets of those who love British TV.

For now, Acorn TV is winning. Last autumn, the streaming service surpassed 1 million subscribers in the US and Canada. Acorn TV also has something that some larger streaming services don’t: profits.

While Disney+, Hulu, and the coming HBO Max and Peacock expect to lose money for years, Acorn TV is profitable because its costs are “a small fraction” of those of bigger services, said Josh Sapan, chief executive officer of its parent, AMC Networks.

Acorn TV isn't spending massive sums of money for reruns of Friends or deals with famous showrunners. It hopes to complement — not compete with — the streaming giants, Sapan said. "They are in a different world of economics," he said.

Acorn TV costs $6 (Dh22) per month. BritBox is $7 a month and owned by BBC Studios and ITV. While BritBox has fewer subscribers, the two-year-old service is newer and growing quickly, reaching 650,000 North American subscribers in July.

They offer some of the same shows. For example, the nine seasons of the detective show “Vera” are divided between Acorn TV and BritBox, frustrating its fans.

But they also differ in some ways. Unlike Acorn TV, BritBox streams live programming, including the most recent royal wedding, and makes episodes available within a day of their UK broadcast. Acorn TV has expanded into new markets and is offering international shows from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and other countries, while BritBox only offers shows from the UK — a fact that it uses to make a subtle dig at its rival.

“BritBox is the only authentic British content service in the market,” said Soumya Sriraman, BritBox’s founding president.

In 2018, AMC Networks, which is controlled by the Dolan family, took over Acorn TV when it bought RLJ Entertainment in a $274 million deal. AMC Networks, home of cable channels like AMC and IFC and dramas such as Better Call Saul and The Walking Dead, is responding to the cord-cutting era with four niche streaming services. Besides Acorn TV, there's Shudder for horror film fans; Sundance Now for indie film addicts; and Urban Movie Channel for black audiences. The four services have more than two million subscribers combined. By 2024, AMC Networks expects them to have as many as 7 million subscribers.

Acorn TV and BritBox are two of dozens of niche streaming channels. Some of them, like Crunchyroll for anime fans and CuriosityStream for science and nature lovers, are more popular than the British-focused apps. But others — including FilmStruck, for arthouse-movie fans, and Seeso, for comedy lovers — have shut down, raising doubts about whether niche services can continue to survive in a crowded landscape.

For Acorn TV, the big question is whether its owner can afford to keep investing as its cable-TV business struggles and the competition grows. AMC Networks shares slumped 28 per cent last year, and ratings for its biggest show, “The Walking Dead,” have been declining.

Meanwhile, BritBox’s owners are starting to pull back shows from Netflix and Acorn TV for their own service. Netflix has said it was spending about $500 million last year on more than 50 TV shows and films in Britain. An Acorn TV spokeswoman said the service is making more of its own original programming and licensing shows from other producers.

But when deep-pocketed streaming giants like Netflix become interested in a genre, it makes it more expensive for niche services to license shows, according to Matthew Ball, the former head of strategy at Amazon Studios.

Without the resources of a larger media company, Acorn TV looks for unique marketing opportunities. It targets fans of British TV on Facebook and offers trial subscriptions at public libraries because many shows on the service are based on famous books. AMC Networks recently struck a deal with the movie chain AMC Theatres (an unrelated company) in which customers who buy a ticket get an offer to sign up for Acorn TV and its owner’s other streaming services.

“We’re going to find our way to them,” Sapan said. “We’re not going to wait for them to find their way to us.”

One of the first things that Acorn TV subscribers see when they open the app is Martin Clunes. With his protruding ears and scowling face, Clunes is largely unknown to American audiences. But he is famous in Britain, where he has a devoted fan base known as the "Clunatics". Clunes stars in at least five shows on Acorn TV, including two travel documentaries and Doc Martin, where he plays a former surgeon who changes careers after developing a fear of blood.

Some Acorn TV shows are unmistakably British. There's Agatha Christie's Marple about an older female detective who is "proper, demure and sharp as a tack", according to the website. There's also Victoria Wood's Nice Cup of Tea, in which the comedian travels the world exploring "how this little leaf became such an important part of British life." The New York Times included Manhunt, a Clunes-starring Acorn TV drama about a serial killer, on its list of "Best TV Shows of 2019."

Many fans of British TV subscribe to both Acorn TV and BritBox. Some merely enjoy the scenery of the English countryside or the characters’ accents, which one subscriber described on Twitter as “cotton candy on my ears”.

Marilyn Arnold, a 74-year-old retiree in Des Moines, Iowa, pays for six streaming services because they all have some British TV shows: Acorn TV, BritBox, Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and HBO.

“The British and Australian programs are far more interesting and the acting is superior to American television,” she said. Many like British TV shows because they feature older female protagonists, which is rare on American-made shows, said Stefanie Hutson, creator of IHeartBritishTV.com.

"They tell stories American TV doesn't tell anymore," said Hutson, 39, who started the website to help her grandmother find British shows. "People say, 'I haven't seen a show like this since Golden Girls or Murder She Wrote.' It moves them to tears because they're so glad to see people like them in a show who are not forced to the sidelines."

Specs

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The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

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THE BIO

Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979

Education: UAE University, Al Ain

Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6

Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma

Favourite book: Science and geology

Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC

Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.

The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
The specs

Engine: 3.8-litre V6

Power: 295hp at 6,000rpm

Torque: 355Nm at 5,200rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km

Price: Dh179,999-plus

On sale: now 

if you go

The flights 

Etihad and Emirates fly direct to Kolkata from Dh1,504 and Dh1,450 return including taxes, respectively. The flight takes four hours 30 minutes outbound and 5 hours 30 minute returning. 

The trains

Numerous trains link Kolkata and Murshidabad but the daily early morning Hazarduari Express (3’ 52”) is the fastest and most convenient; this service also stops in Plassey. The return train departs Murshidabad late afternoon. Though just about feasible as a day trip, staying overnight is recommended.

The hotels

Mursidabad’s hotels are less than modest but Berhampore, 11km south, offers more accommodation and facilities (and the Hazarduari Express also pauses here). Try Hotel The Fame, with an array of rooms from doubles at Rs1,596/Dh90 to a ‘grand presidential suite’ at Rs7,854/Dh443.

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

 

UAE v Gibraltar

What: International friendly

When: 7pm kick off

Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City

Admission: Free

Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page

UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)

The specs

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Battery: Rimac 120kWh Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) chemistry

Power: 1877bhp

Torque: 2300Nm

Price: Dh7,500,00

On sale: Now

 

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm

Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm

Transmission: 9-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh117,059

Results

2.30pm: Dubai Creek Tower – Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (Dirt) 1,200m; Winner: Marmara Xm, Gary Sanchez (jockey), Abdelkhir Adam (trainer)

3pm: Al Yasmeen – Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,700m; Winner: AS Hajez, Jesus Rosales, Khalifa Al Neyadi

3.30pm: Al Ferdous – Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,700m; Winner: Soukainah, Sebastien Martino, Jean-Claude Pecout

4pm: The Crown Prince Of Sharjah – Prestige (PA) Dh200,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: AF Thayer, Ray Dawson, Ernst Oertel

4.30pm: Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Cup – Handicap (TB) Dh200,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: George Villiers, Antonio Fresu, Bhupat Seemar

5pm: Palma Spring – Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Es Abu Mousa, Antonio Fresu, Abubakar Daud