Netflix for the arts? Marquee TV launches in the UK
David Farnor | On 15, Jul 2018
New subscription streaming service Marquee TV has launched in the UK, and it’s got arts lovers firmly in its sights.
The SVOD platform promises culture on-demand to subscribers, serving up a collection of dance, opera, theatre, music and documentaries from around the world.
The on-demand service, which is available in the UK, USA and Canada, aims to stand out from the big three SVOD players – Netflix UK, Amazon Prime Video and NOW – by focusing specifically on the kind of content that gets overlooked by TV and film oriented platforms. It joins similar proposition Digital Theatre, a subscription and pay-per-view service that brings recordings of theatrical productions from across the UK to users at home, from The Old Vic and the RSC to the Globe Theatre.
The Globe Theatre has also inked deal with Marquee, with available productions including As You Like It, Love’s Labours Lost, Richard II starring David Tennant – read our review of that here. (Indeed, Shakespeare’s Globe has also embraced VOD with its own in-house streaming platform, Globe Player.)
While Marquee’s theatre selection is otherwise limited to Transition (Reggie Watts) and Whatever, Heaven Allows (Radiohole), it distinguishes itself from Digital Theatre by doubling down on other arts, with a sizeable collection of opera (everything from Death in Venice to La Traviata), a handful of classical music performances and a wealth of dance and ballet (its biggest category). Some arts-based documentaries are also included.
A subscription to Marquee TV costs £8.99 a month, with no contract, significantly cheaper than your typical London West End ticket, even when seats at blockbusters such as Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Hamilton can be purchased for £15 and £37.50 respectively. With theatres offering last-minute offers and lotteries to make culture more affordable, the ongoing rise of streaming plays, opera, ballet and more only help to make culture more accessible.
Marquee TV is available on iOS and Android devices, as well as Apple TV, Amazon’s Fire TV and Smart TVs. For more information, visit http://launch.marquee.tv.
