Frndly Launches Channel Store, Adding 4 Subscription Services to Lineup

Reba McEntire Lifetime Christmas in Tune
Reba McEntire in a Lifetime movie ‘Christmas in Tune.’ (Image credit: Lifetime)

Frndly TV, the low-priced, family-friendly streaming service, said it launched a channel store where users can sign up for subscription streaming services.

Lifetime Movie Club, History Vault, A&E Crime Central, from A+E Networks, and Great American Pure Flix will be added to the channel store. 

Frndly already had a deal offering subscriptions to Hallmark Movies Now as an add-on.

Frndly TV

“By making these SVOD services available to our subscribers in one central location, we are further serving our customers with more options for their enjoyment — and providing these services with a national distribution outlet that makes their programming available to millions of potential viewers,” Frndly TV co-founder and chief programming officer Michael McKenna said. “While there is fragmentation and unbundling throughout the pay TV industry, we are very pleased to add these great offerings to Frndly TV and bring them together under one roof with the easiest user experience possible, and the convenience of a single billing account.”

Frndly has somewhere between 750,000 and 1 million subscribers and said it is growing its revenues and turning a profit.

Frndly was among the first virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPD) to carry broadcast multicast channels and is now planning to carry broadcast stations in some markets.

The new subscription services would come on top of Frndly’s base price of $6.99 a month.

Lifetime Movie Club is an ad-free subscription video service that offers new and classic Lifetime Movies of all genres. New movies and themed playlists are added each week. Lifetime Movie Club will be available to all Frndly TV subscribers for $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year.

History Vault is a commercial-free subscription video service that offers thousands of History Channel’s best documentaries and series. History Vault will be available to all Frndly TV subscribers for $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year.

A&E Crime Central is a commercial-free subscription video service offering more than 2,000 episodes of chilling true crime series and documentaries like I Survived, The First 48 and Cold Case Files. A&E Crime Central will be available to all Frndly TV subscribers for $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year.

Frndly TV will offer each servuce with a seven-day free trial. And for those Frndly TV customers who wish to add all three services, a $9.99-per-month bundle will be offered.

Great American Pure Flix is a subscription video service that offers quality movies and programs celebrating faith, family, country and hometown values. Frndly TV will offer Great American Pure Flix for $8.99 per month or $79.99 per year. Viewers can sample Great American Pure Flix with a seven-day free trial.

“Today’s TV consumer wants choice in price and programming — choice that is easy to find and access in one place and the convenience of one billing account. As a leading vMVPD, it’s our job to give people the options they want and make both discovering and using those options easier than ever,” McKenna said. “With the launch of the Frndly TV Channel store, we are fast becoming the central hub for the independently owned streamers.”

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.