Flemish streaming site Streamz launches

A new streaming site for movies and series is launching on Monday. Streamz is being launched through a co-operation of media concerns, including Telenet and public broadcaster VRT.

Streamz is Flanders’ answer to Netflix, offering original films and series, as well as previously produced content. International content will also be featured on the site, including all original HBO movies and series. When Streamz launches on 14 September, there will be more than 1,000 titles on offer.

Streamz costs €11.95 a month for four screens simultaneously. It will be available to anyone with digital TV through Telenet. Telenet Play subscribers will already have access; Play is becoming Streamz.

“Viewers are fans of local programmes, films and series,” says John Porter, CEO of Telenet. “With Streamz, we are bundling the best of all of this and supplementing it with international top players. This is also offering opportunities to the local production sector. Local content is king, and with Streamz, we will make sure it stays that way.”

The English-language series Cold Courage will premiere on Streamz

While Streamz will be home to original series, it will also offer sneak previews of upcoming series planned for Flemish TV broadcasters. This year, it will offer 11 original series or previews. Viewers can already see the new Antwerp-based police series Fair Trade, for instance, before it hits VTM later, or the original English-language crime drama Cold Courage about two Finnish women who get involved in an underground organisation in London.

Also starting next week, Streamz viewers can see De Bende Van Jan De Lichte (pictured top), which has already aired on Proximus digital services and on Netflix as Thieves of the Wood. The 10-part series is based on the real-life 18th-century outlaw Jan De Lichte of Aalst.

Streamz will also offer old favourites, such as Call Boys, Eigen Kweek and FC De Kampioenen, as well as existing and new English-language series like Love Life and The Third Day starring Jude Law.

Streamz “is a milestone in the history of Flemish media,” said Kris Vervaet, CEO of DPG Media Belgium, one of the partners. “Flanders now has what it needs: Its own streaming service. This was necessary to safeguard the bright future of the Flemish media landscape.”