The offering contains around 500 hours of TV series which internet users can access for a flat monthly fee of €5.90. In Switzerland, the price tag is CHF6.90. The offering can be tested free of charge for 4 weeks.

The lineup comprises, for example, crime series from German public broadcaster ARD such as Schimanski, Hauptstadtrevier, Im Angesicht des Verbrechens and Hubert & Staller.

“Besides the free AVOD service, we are now the first platform to additionally offer SVOD,” said Philipp Rotermund, CEO of Watch4. “The double strategy is pursued in the USA by Hulu, the second-strongest VOD provider in the United States.”

The SVOD service announced in November 2014 complements the free-of-charge, ad-supported Watch4 service which contains news, series, documentaries and other content. Watch4 also wants to offer its first originally produced series soon.

The company based in Luzern, Switzerland, is backed by media entrepreneurs Philipp Rotermund, Jochen Kröhne and Helge Sasse. The service which records up to 8 million video views per month focuses on productions from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.