A+E Networks has made a deal that will make its subscription streaming apps —History Vault, A&E Crime Central and Lifetime Movie Club — available via the Vizio SmartCast platform.

Vizio users can also access some A+E content for free via Vizio’s WatchFree Plus streaming service.

History Vault, at $4.99 a month, offers more than 3,500 hours of content from History Channel, including documentaries from the network‘s library and series including America’s Greatest Feud: The History of the Hatfields and the McCoys, as well as past seasons of popular series like American Restoration and Ice Road Truckers.

A&E Crime Central, for $4.99 per month, has 1,300 hours of content from A&E, History Channel, Lifetime and LMN, including The First 48: Missing Persons, Beyond Scared Straight and Cold Case Files.

Lifetime Movie Club, at $3.99 a month, has more than 300 Lifetime movies including Flowers in the Attic, Death of A Cheerleader and Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret.

“This integration with Vizio SmartCast TVs extends the reach of these popular streaming apps and greatly adds to our connected TV footprint, making it easier than ever for our engaged audiences to access their favorite content when, where, and how they want,” said Mark Garner, executive VP, global content sales and business development, A+E Networks. “We value our relationship with VIZIO and look forward to building new ways for viewers to tune into their favorite library content across our brands.“

Among the free content on Vizio WatchFree Plus are channels based on A+E series: Ax Men, Ice Road Truckers and Modern Marvels.

Additional WatchFree Plus channels based on A+E content include: 

Crime 360 — Step inside the investigation as theories and evidence are brought to life through fantastic CGI visualizations, state-of-the-art 3D laser scanning and 360-degree digital photography.

Lively Place — Programming for home improvement, dating and romance, and outdoor enthusiasts.

Skills + Thrills — The American spirit of grit and adventure with reality, nonfiction and competition programming.

Movie Favorites by Lifetime — Favorite Lifetime movie favorites.

Defy TV — Daring and bold reality TV shows.

TrueReal — Reality shows with big drama.

Tiny House Nation — The hit shows behind the Tiny Home movement all day, every day. Travel he globe in search of unique tiny homes of 500 square feet or less.

“Vizio’s commitment to offer viewers a wide breadth of compelling content and experiences makes expanding A+E on SmartCast a natural fit," said Katherine Pond, VP of business development for Vizio. "With A+E’s entertainment portfolio that tells amazing stories and spans multiple genres, we’re thrilled to be launching these additional A+E apps that are sure to keep the whole family entertained.”

Vizio also provides convenient access to apps like Apple TV Plus, BET Plus, Discovery Plus, Disney Plus, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, Paramount Plus, Peacock, Amazon Prime Video and YouTube TV. ■ 

History Vault, an SVOD service from A+E Networks, has added another sales outlet following an integration with Comcast’s Xfinity On Demand platform for set-top boxes, Web browsers and via the Xfinity TV app for mobile devices

History Vault costs $4.99 per month and provides access to a wide range of History programming, including series such as America The Story of US and Engineering an Empire, documentaries like Gettysburg, Alcatraz: Search for the Truth, new additions such as Inside the Presidency, and programs spanning specific topics, including The World Wars, space exploration, The Bible, and the Dark Ages, among others. A&E is also sells an annual subscription to History Vault online for $49.99 per year.

The tie-in of History Vault with an MVPD complements availability on several OTT platforms, including iOS devices, Apple TV boxes, Roku Players and through Amazon Channels. A version for Android devices will debut in the “coming months,” A&E Networks said.

RELATED: Amazon Boosts Subscription ‘Channel’ Count Near Century Mark

History Vault’s MVPD integration also enters play amid an SVOD market that is erupting with focused, stand-alone offerings and relatively new SVOD aggregation services that include  Amazon Channels, which launched in late 2015, and VRV, a service from Ellation that is tailored for audiences interested in anime and gaming.

RELATED: SVOD Surge (subscription required)

Comcast, meanwhile, has begun to integrate SVOD services like Netflix to its X1 platform.  

Colin Dixon, founder and chief analyst of nScreenMedia, told Multichannel News for this week’s cover story that it’s critical for MVPDs to open up and expand their pay TV platforms.

“Operators have an excellent opportunity to do what Amazon is doing for their customers,” he said. “But to do it, they have to move to a more open model. In my mind, the most important thing Comcast could do is … to get [its] guide on everybody’s television. That’s their anchor. If they’re not the guide, then Amazon is the guide, and they get all the incremental revenue.”