By Jonathan Easton

German-speaking AVOD Watch4, and its nascent UK counterpart W4free, have launched on LG Channels.

Available for free, Watch4 was launched in 2018 and is available in Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland while W4free entered the UK market in late 2019 with Sky handling ad sales. Both are owned by Zug, and offer access to a wide range of movies and series.

Now the company is looking to expand its reach by partnering with the Xumo-powered LG Channels. Users will be able to access the streamer in addition to the over 200 digital channels already available on LG Channels. The platform is viewable through LG smart TVs running webOS 4.5 or above.

CEO of Watch4 and W4Free, Philipp Rotermund said: “XUMO-Powered services have been growing rapidly in Europe and the UK since its international debut last year. Watch4 and W4Free look forward to being part of the continued growth by providing viewers with access to a vast library of entertainment, news and sports content, and all for free.”

SVP of content partnerships and programming at XUMO, Stefan Van Engen said: “International expansion remains a key driver of XUMO’s explosive growth. With this partnership, Watch4 and W4Free are helping us to deliver a significant range of premium programming to millions of viewers in a region where demand for streaming content is fast accelerating.”

This is the latest distribution deal for the AVOD, and follows a partnership signed with Netgem.TV in the UK earlier this month.       https://www.digitaltveurope.com