UPC launches My Prime premium streaming service
Simon Moynihan
Staff Writer


UPC has today launched My Prime - its premium content streaming service. The new service, which clearly has Netflix in its sights, offers thousands of hours of entertainment to UPC customers at no extra cost.

The service has launched with popular Irish boxsets including Love/Hate, Amber and Raw, as well as hit Irish movies like The Guard, What Richard Did and His & Hers.

UPC customers can now officially avail of the My Prime service through their Horizon set top boxes and the Horizon Go mobile and tablet apps.

Content

In addition to Irish content, UPC has agreed deals with US and international studios to bring a wide range of titles to the My Prime service. These include Miramax movies, Disney shows and well known TV box sets like Grey’s Anatomy and The Walking Dead.

UPC has said that it will keep adding new shows and movies every month and plans to double the amount content available through My Prime by the end of the year.

The Dave Fanning Show

UPC is launching their My Prime service with a pretty interesting idea - and what seems to be an industry first. They’ve recognised that people are often overwhelmed by the amount of content that streaming services offer, so they have commissioned Dave Fanning to produce and host 13 On Demand review shows.

The Dave Fanning Show will be 20 minutes in length, will review box sets and movies, and will include reviews, interviews and special features.

The first show will be available through My Prime on Monday 23 March and will also air on UPC’s “barker” channel – which can be found at channel 100. A new show will be aired weekly.

Dave Fanning said that the show will offer genuine reviews, and not serve to specifically push UPC’s new content. He also said that it will provide a way to highlight good content that viewers may not have heard of before.

Out of Home

My Prime is now available via the Horizon Go app alongside the Live TV, On Demand and Catch Up services. The Horizon Go service supports two devices in addition to TV, so subscribers can watch whenever and wherever they want.

Horizon

The My Prime streaming service is available to all existing Horizon customers at no additional cost and customers that do not have the Horizon box can add the service free of charge. Customers that do not want to avail of Horizon service, or customers that are living in areas where Horizon service is not available, can sign up to My Prime for an additional €5 per month.

Speaking about My Prime, Bill Blake, head of commercial and products at UPC said, “We want to make watching television even more enjoyable for our customers.  As market leaders we are committed to providing the best home entertainment offering available. The My Prime service is an exciting new development which will give customers the freedom and flexibility to access video content at any time and without limits. ”

UPC has said that demand for their streaming services has doubled over the last three months and customers are now streaming 100,000 pieces of content per week.