AMC and BBC America will use a little corporate synergy to afford A Discovery of Witches as larger audience, when the series moves from streaming to cable this April. It turns out the UK hit is just as big a success on the other side of the pond, as the US premiere of the supernatural romance smashed streaming records when it premiered on Sundance Now and Shudder, prompting AMC (which is part of a larger network that includes Sundance Now, IFC, BBC America, and Shudder) to see how it does with cable viewers.
The series, an adaptation of Deborah Harkness’s best-selling novel of the same name — the first part in the All Souls trilogy of books — aired in the UK last year, and quickly garnered plenty of attention for its supernatural romance between reluctant witch/academic Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer) and the dashing vampire/biologist Matthew Claremont (Matthew Goode). Throw in a centuries-old conspiracy involving a mysterious, magical text and the hidden origins of vampires, and the series delivers a unique spin on the likes of Twilight and Outlander.
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Apparently, fans were eager to spend some time with Matthew and Diana, as the US premiere of the series reportedly “smashed records for total video plays” on Sundance Now, accounting for “more than half of all streaming activity on the platform.” Anticipation for the series also brought in plenty of new subscribers to the service, making it a potential welcome hit across all of AMC’s platforms.
AMC’s plan is to air the series over eight weeks alongside the second season of its other recent hit, Killing Eve. Both series will air on AMC and BBC America beginning in April, giving the network a one-two punch of new, buzzy content to its spring 2019 lineup. As A Discovery of Witches was previously behind a subscription paywall, it’s a good bet that the series will see even more US viewers tuning in.
With a second and third season of the series already in announced by Sky, Sundance Now, and Shudder, it’s a good bet that A Discovery of Witches will get even bigger in the months to come. It will be interesting to see how well the series performs this spring, and whether or not that alters AMC’s approach to delivering it to its audience.
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A Discovery of Witches will air on AMC and BBC America beginning on April 7 @9pm.
