Streaming service Stan has celebrated a significant milestone, as well as announcing a swathe of new content deals and original shows at an event in Sydney on Tuesday afternoon.
In just over three years since launching, the Nine-Fairfax joint venture’s active subscriber base has now surpassed one million households.
Stan also announced at the event new long-term exclusive output deals with Hollywood studios Lionsgate (making it the home of STARZ) and MGM, as well as a number of brand new original series that will go into production across the country in the next few months.
Bloom is a six-part mystery drama that has been commissioned by Stan. It will be produced by Australian production company Playmaker in partnership with Sony Pictures Television, which will distribute the premium drama globally.
The series will go into production in August and will premiere exclusively on Stan later this year.
An eight-part drama series created by The Kettering Incident’s Victoria Madden called The Gloaming has also been commissioned as a Stan Original Series.
Produced by Madden and John Molloy, and in partnership with Disney’s ABC Studios International (which will also distribute the series internationally), the show will commence production in Tasmania in the second half of 2018, and will premiere exclusively on Stan early next year.
Furthermore, Stan Original Series No Activity will return with a stand-alone Christmas special.
The brand-new show, No Activity: The Night Before Christmas, will reunite the original award-winning creative team of Patrick Brammall and Trent O’Donnell (who will also direct), as well as series producers Jungle Entertainment.
Production of the show will commence in the second half of 2018 to premiere on Stan in December.
Stan CEO Mike Sneesby said: “The Australian television landscape continues to change rapidly and with that change, the ambitions and opportunities for Stan continue to grow.
“We have set out to pioneer the future of television in Australia and today’s subscriber milestone is a great indication of how quickly Aussies are changing their TV viewing habits.
“Premium programming is the key driver of our business growth and strategy and today we have announced some important strategic partnerships that will help us continue to change the face of television in Australia.
“With these new partnerships with STARZ and MGM, it’s clear we’re only just getting started.
“Bloom and The Gloaming will be our two biggest original productions yet, each in partnership with major Hollywood studios, and we couldn’t be more excited to make a return to our first original with a very special new instalment of No Activity this Christmas.”
