Rico's rants: Netflix for science fans

15 January 2015

Netflix for science fans

Rishi Iyengar has a Time article about new television:

Discovery Channel founder John Hendricks is launching a streaming service for science enthusiasts. The service will be available on all Internet devices, as well as Apple TV, Roku, and Chromecast. A Netflix for nature and science enthusiasts, prices will range from $2.99 a month (for standard resolution video) to $9.99 (for 4K, or Ultra HD).
The service is called CuriosityStream and debuts on 18 March 2015, Deadline reports, in an article by by David Lieberman:

Subscribers will be able to access lots of short-form programming, some original, plus material from France’s ZED, Flame Distribution, Terra Noa, Japan’s NHK, and BBC Worldwide. The operation’s Curiosity Studios will produce about twenty interviews a month with thinkers including Deepak Chopra, Sheryl WuDunn, and Michio Kaku. Photographer Norman Seeff will conduct interviews about creativity, while Chopra will host a series featuring conversations with industry leaders and celebrities.
“I have long dreamed of a content-on-demand service that uses advanced media to empower the enduring human desire to understand the Universe and the world around us,” Hendricks says. He calls CuriosityStream “the world’s first ad-free, SVOD service that addresses our lifelong quest to learn, explore, and understand. For consumers, our aim is to provide the first and best on-demand video streaming destination that aggregates and curates the world’s best factual content.”
His daughter, Elizabeth Hendricks North, is president of Curiosity Project. Documentary maker Steve Burns is in charge of programming.
CuriosityStream will be available to all Internet-connected mobile devices and computers, and will connect to televisions via Apple TV, Roku, and Chromecast. “We have designed CuriosityStream from the ground up as a customer-centric service that provides what viewers want: fast streaming, intuitive video selection, quality content, and no advertising,” says EVP for Digital Media Operations Peter North. “For consumers, our aim is to provide the first and best on-demand video streaming destination that aggregates and curates the world’s best factual content,” said Hendricks, who retired from Discovery Communications in May of 2014.