Shudder, ALLBLK, Acorn TV, Other AMC Streamers to Launch Ad-Supported Plans in Coming Months

While it does not have nearly the customer base that many of its larger and more expansive competitors, AMC Networks faces many of the same problems that the bulk of companies operating both cable channels and on-demand streaming services in today’s entertainment landscape. Cord-cutting has eaten into linear revenue as subscribers and ad sales decline, and the money generated by AMC+, Shudder, and AMC’s other streaming platforms has not been near enough to pick up the slack. That goes a long way toward explaining a new report from Variety that indicates that AMC is planning to launch ad-supported versions of its various streaming services in the coming months.

• The report indicates ad-supported plans of AMC streamers will be available by the end of the 2024-25 upfront market.
• The company rolled out an ads plan for its flagship platform AMC+ in September.
• AMC is leaning into its horror content over the next year and will spotlight it on all platforms in the name of viewer engagement.

Variety’s report says that AMC wants to create ad-supported plans for Acorn TV, ALLBLK, HIDIVE, IFC Films Unlimited, and Sundance Now. The company would like to launch these options before the end of the 2024-25 upfront market, so viewers should expect to see them arrive within the next 12-18 months.

The announcement comes only months after the launch of AMC+ with ads, which first hit the market in September 2023. There were no pricing details available regarding how much AMC wants to charge for ad plans of these services; it charges $4.99 per month for an ad-supported subscription to AMC+, 45% less than an ad-free subscription ($8.99 per month).

Each of the streamers set to get a new ad-supported plan within the next year or so currently costs between $4.99 and $6.99 per month to stream ad-free. The question for the company becomes whether or not it will raise prices on current ad-free plans and slot the new ad-supported versions in at the current price. It is generally accepted that having customers on an ad-supported plan generates more average revenue per user than a pure ad-free subscription. Between all of its platforms AMC has just 11.4 million total streaming customers, and raising subscription prices on a pool this small could create a large subset of customers that would rather cancel than go to ad-supported options.

According to one recent survey, however, AMC is on solid ground by announcing ad plans for its various streaming services. A TiVo study published last week indicates that 62.8% of audiences are now willing to accept ads with their streaming services, an all-time high for ad tolerance. Viewers are now accustomed to thinking of ad-supported plans as an acceptable compromise if they provide budgetary relief.

What’s the Future of AMC Streaming?

AMC has all the financial struggles of a huge legacy media corporation trying to modernize its operations, but only a fraction of the resources of a company like Disney or Warner Bros. Discovery. Its last quarterly earnings report showed streaming revenues rising by 4% to $145 million, but advertising revenues on linear TV falling by 23% as cable audiences shrink.

This has led to plenty of speculation that a larger media company might try to snap up AMC and its assets some day. Warner Bros. Discovery was discussed as a potential buyer when AMC licensed several of its original shows to stream on that company’s service Max last fall, but so far things have been very quiet on the merger and acquisition front for AMC.

The creation of ad-supported plans for its niche streaming platforms is the latest sign that AMC plans to keep going on its own for as long as possible. The company is hoping to attract a new swath of customers to its services in the coming months, as its content strategy for 2024 includes leaning on a popular genre: horror. Its fear-focused streaming service Shudder will be a centerpiece of this strategy, but it will also spotlight horror content across its various other services as well.

Viewers who enjoy AMC streaming content will want to keep an eye out for these ad plans. They will launch within the next few months, and they could help audiences materially lower their monthly streaming costs while offering the same content, accompanied by a commercial or two, of course.