StreamCo’s subscription streaming service Stan has secured a raft of film and TV product from MGM, the second deal with a US major following the agreement with Sony Pictures TV for Breaking Bad and the prequel Better Call Saul.
StreamCo, which has yet to reveal a launch date for Stan but is thought to be aiming for mid-December, will get exclusive SVoD rights to MGM's crime drama Fargo.
SBS screened the first series after outbidding Foxtel and it retains free-to-air rights for the second season. The sequel will be set in 1979 in Sioux Falls, Luvurne and Fargo, and focus on a young Lou Solverson, who was a retired state police officer played by Keith Carradine in the first series.
The multi-year deal with MGM includes non-exclusive SVoD rights to recent movies including Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy, the RoboCop remake, 21 Jump Street and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and the TV series Teen Wolf, The L Word and Will and Grace.
The arrangement also covers library films such as When Harry Met Sally, The Silence of the Lambs, West Side Story, Four Weddings and a Funeral and the Rocky, RoboCop, The Pink Panther and Legally Blonde franchises.
Co-owned by Nine Entertainment Co and Fairfax Media, StreamCo is expected to drip-feed announcements of deals with other distributors in the next few weeks. IF understands these could include the BBC, ABC Commercial, Warner Bros and Studiocanal.
Titles will be available to watch instantly in full HD on multiple platforms including television, tablets, computers and mobile phones, priced at about $10 per month.
StreamCo CEO Mike Sneesby said, “Fargo has proved to be one of 2014’s best new series and adds to the lineup of high-quality dramas Stan will have at launch. MGM’s library includes some of the greatest movies ever made, and we’re delighted to be able to bring a range of them to Stan for our audience to enjoy.”