Every network, it seems, is launching a streaming service. CBS is hoping to lure Star Trek fans to CBS All Access. DC Comics is launching an all-DC streaming service leaning on their teen heroes. And now FX will be joining it with a new service, FX+.
FX+ will, for the moment, be limited to Comcast subscribers for now and cost $6 on top of their usual cable bill. It’s an add-on for current FX subscribers that offers ad-free streaming of both current FX shows and past seasons and series under Comcast’s On Demand banner. The library shows include Louie, The League, Damages, and Terriers, and the current seasons are, well, pretty much everything FX airs right now, from Archer to Fargo to The Americans to upcoming series like Deadpool. Notably missing is Justified, but hey, you can’t have everything.
It’s unlikely FX will be departing from the various streaming services it’s a part of any time soon, as it has deals with Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu to stream various shows. But unlike a lot of networks, FX has a stronger bid than most to be a standalone service. The network practically pioneered the concept of peak TV, and it offers up strong sitcoms and dramas like clockwork. The real loser here, ironically, is cable networks like Comcast. There’s been an increasing trend among networks, especially networks with strong original shows like HBO, to view cable subscriptions as just one of a dozen different ways to get their shows in front of people, along with starting your own streaming service, signing deals with titans like Netflix, and selling shows by the season on Amazon. If FX can make this work, networks might start asking why a cable channel is even necessary at all.
(via FX)