If you lamented the demise of Filmstruck last year, you’ll surely welcome the rise of the new Criterion Channel. It launches today. According to Criterion, the “new service will host the Criterion Collection and Janus Films’ ever-growing library of more than 1,000 feature films, 350 shorts, and 3,500 supplementary features, including trailers, introductions, behind-the-scenes documentaries, interviews, video essays, commentary tracks, and rare archival footage.” In addition, you will get access to a “constantly refreshed selections of Hollywood, international, art-house, and independent movies.”
The Criterion Channel will launch in the U.S. and Canada. It can be accessed on desktop browsers and also apps for Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, iOS, and Android and Android TV devices. If you sign up now, you can get a 14 day free trial. Find more information on the channel here.
If you would like to sign up for Open Culture’s free email newsletter, please find it here. It’s a great way to see our new posts, all bundled in one email, each day.
If you would like to support the mission of Open Culture, consider making a donation to our site. It’s hard to rely 100% on ads, and your contributions will help us continue providing the best free cultural and educational materials to learners everywhere. You can contribute through PayPal, Patreon, and Venmo (@openculture). Thanks!
Charter members are panning the service because their videos will not stream on Chromecast or on Chromebooks.
Criterion says it is their flavor of High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) that is the problem. It just does not work on Chromecast or on Chromebooks.
Samsung Galaxy S9 users also report Criterion content will not stream on their devices.
The service will not work for me on my Chromebook, nor over Chromecast. It seems to work on my Amazon Fire TV stick.
It works great on my Roku.