A new option popped up on the home screen for German Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) TV—the digital set-top box, not the long-forecasted smart television set—users on Jan. 11. Watchever, a new streaming video subscription service provided by Vivendi, offers audiences the full-seasons of television series, European and international movies for $11.99 a month.
Already compared to Hulu’s service in the U.S., Watchever just launched Jan. 9, and boasts among its titles AMC shows “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad,” early seasons of HBO series such as “The Sopranos” and “Sex and the City,” and films such as “Slumdog Millionaire” and “There Will Be Blood.” German audiences can choose between watching a German-dubbed version of international movies or the original. Whichever also offers personal recommendations similar to the algorithm used by Netflix.
Currenty Watchever is only available on Apple (AAPL) TVs in Germany, and the partnership marks the first time Cupertino has added an international region-specific service to its service. The NextWeb suggests, however, a possible new trend beginning “in which Apple cuts deals for regions where there is a strong localized offering that delivers content appealing to Apple TV owners there.”
Watchever is the newest of the available apps on the Apple TV home screen. The iPhone-like interface included a Wall Street Journal Live app, iTunes Festival app, and MLB, NBA and NHL apps. With the exception of the Wall Street Journal, the apps are all subscription-based. Netflix and Hulu Plus, while offered on Apple TV, are not available in Germany.
German television viewers do have access to Amazon-owned Lovefilm which, like Netflix, offers both streaming and physical DVDs, but like Amazon Instant Video in the U.S. the service is not available on Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) Apple TV.
