Acorn Media Unveils Acorn TV - First British TV Focused Streaming Service

ACORN MEDIA GROUP UNVEILS ACORN TV

First British TV Focused Streaming Service Offers Critically Acclaimed Series including Upstairs Downstairs, Brideshead Revisited and Agatha Christie’s Poirot

Silver Spring, MD; July 18, 2011 – Acorn Media Group today announced the launch of Acorn TV, a new streaming service that makes the company’s award-winning British mysteries and dramas available online to American audiences.

Available at acornonline.com/TV, the launch line-up includes such bestselling classics and contemporary titles as Upstairs Downstairs, Brideshead Revisited, The Far Pavilions, Foyle’s War, Agatha Christie’s Poirot and The Forsyte Saga. Acorn TV will mark the first time many of these programs are available for streaming.

Acorn Media, a leading independent media company that Time magazine has called the “chief curators of the best Brit TV,” holds exclusive North American distribution rights to the most critically acclaimed programs, all of which are available from Acorn Media on lavishly packaged DVDs. Most are also available from Acorn Media as digital copies that can be purchased and downloaded. Now, Acorn TV offers U.S. fans of British TV the opportunity to stream many of their favorite series, as well as discover programs such as Vera starring Brenda Blethyn and Reggie Perrin starring Martin Clunes. These programs and many others offered by Acorn are beloved by U.K. viewers but haven’t been available to U.S. audiences.

“Acorn Media Group has found incredible success building a media company focused on audiences passionate for distinctive programming, in particular, British programming,” said Miguel Penella, CEO of Acorn Media Group. “Through our long-term relationship with our target audience, Acorn Media has helped introduce British dramas and mystery programs in North America. With Acorn TV, we can offer these programs on an anytime and, ultimately, anywhere basis. We look forward to streaming our incredible program library to U.S. audiences.”

At launch Acorn TV is offering a full season of six different series with the first episode of each season featured online for free. For only $24.99 a year, Acorn Premium subscribers get unlimited access to all of the episodes in each selected season. In addition, Premium members receive free shipping on all orders from Acorn’s distinctive merchandise catalog and website, www.AcornOnline.com.

A free trial of Acorn TV is being offered to viewers through August 31 at acornonline.com/TV.

Programming for Acorn TV is refreshed weekly, with each season available for six weeks. There are six seasons and more than 40 hours of programming offered at any given time. Each week one season will be added and the oldest season will be removed. As Acorn TV develops the programming offering will evolve based on audience preferences.

Acorn TV is accessible at launch on computers, iPhones, iPads, and any portable device with a browser that runs Flash 10 or higher, Apple TV, and Google TV. Additional devices and applications will follow over the next 12 months. 

To access Acorn TV:

1.    Visit acornonline.com/TV and click on the big red button at the top right of the page that says “Register now to try Acorn TV Premium Access for free until 8/31/11”

2.    Enter registration information (just email, no credit card required) and then sit back and enjoy some fine British television!

About Acorn Media Group:
Based in suburban Washington, D.C. and founded by Chairman Peter Edwards, Acorn Media Group has grown from a one-man basement documentary production and distribution operation in the mid-1980s into a leading independent media company operating on three continents. The Acorn Media Group consists of four divisions. With its Acorn DVD label, Acorn Media U.S. is the leading distributor of British television programming to consumers in North America. Its Acacia DVD label offers a line of original health & wellness programming. Appealing to the growing lifelong learning audience, Acorn U.S. also offers acclaimed documentaries on the Athena DVD label. Acorn Direct is a direct-to-consumer division offering DVDs, digital downloads, and other high quality products in North America through its Acorn and Acacia catalogs and e-commerce websites. Acorn Media U.K. and Acorn Media Australia distribute comparable lines of DVD titles to consumers in the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand. www.acornmedia.com