AMC Networks will program and distribute six new free, ad-supported streaming television channels later this year, the company announced on Wednesday.
The channels will tap into AMC’s broad library of original and licensed television content and movies, and will include a linear stream called AMC en Español that will be dedicated to Spanish-language and dubbed programming.
Other channels include a sports-oriented stream called OVERTIME, a channel dedicated to the animation genre Anime and a stream comprised of programming aimed at Black audiences.
“Our Viewers First strategy is built around the goal of making our compelling original content available to viewers wherever and whenever they want to consume it, and that has resulted in an expanding presence on a growing array of leading platforms, with our advertising partners walking right alongside us,” Kimberly Kelleher, an executive in charge of commercial revenue at AMC Networks, said in a press release. “[Free, ad-supported television] has become an increasingly important and growing component of our overall commercial revenue mix, and these new channels will only further accelerate our growth and success in this dynamic environment.”
The six new channels being developed by AMC Networks include:
- AMC en Español: Offering dubbed versions of popular AMC shows, including “The Walking Dead,” “Fear the Walking Dead,” “Catch Fire” and “Rectify.”
- ALLBLK Gems: Featuring programs that are “unapologetically Black,” including “Double Cross,” “A House Divided” and “Notorious Queens.”
- HIDIVE x ANIME: Billed as a “completely original” channel that will offer “the best of anime” from around the world.
- OVERTIME: A stream that will operate in partnership with the Brooklyn-based Overtime, offering access to “the next generation of [basketball] stars both on and off the court.” AMC says the OVERTIME channel will contain “more than 40 highly engaging original series.”
- Shorts: A completely new ad-supported streaming channel that will offer a curated library of short films from a variety of genres, including comedy, drama, science fiction and horror.
- Cortos: A Spanish-language variant of the Shorts channel.
AMC already programs and distributes a handful of free, ad-supported streaming channels (including Stories by AMC, AMC Thrillers, IFC Film Picks and Slightly Off by IFC) that are accessible on a number of platforms, including the Roku Channel, Amazon Prime Video, Paramount Global’s Pluto TV and a free tier of Dish Network’s Sling TV. It was not clear if the six new channels in development will join those platforms or if AMC had reached distribution agreements with other services.
In addition to its free linear offerings, AMC programs several pay television networks, including the flagship AMC Network, BBC America, IFC, Sundance TV and We TV. AMC also serves as the domestic pay television distributor for the international broadcast channel BBC World News.
