Kino Lorber’s streaming platform MHz Choice is merging with First Look Media’s Topic platform to create a single North American streamer, operating under the MHz Choice brand, specializing in international series and films for the domestic market.
Kino Lorber and First Look Media launched a joint venture in 2022 that bundled their streaming activities. The new agreement will fold both MHz Choice and Topic into a single platform.
Kino Lorber Chief Operating Officer Martha Benyam will oversee the new combined service, with Lisa Schwartz, Kino Lorber Chief Revenue Officer, overseeing distribution and partnerships, Executive Vice President, Content Strategy Lance Schwulst continuing to oversee programming and Monica Bloom, who joined Kino Lorber from Topic, continuing to serve as Chief Marketing Officer.
The new service has secured exclusive North American rights to award-winning German period series Babylon Berlin from sales group Beta Film and will stream all four seasons of the show. The first three seasons of Babylon Berlin, a crime drama set in the chaotic period of the Weimar Republic in Germany in the years before the Nazis seized power, streamed on Netflix. But the fourth season, which aired internationally in 2022, has not been available for streaming on North America until now. The fourth season will premiere on June 25.
A fifth, and final season of Babylon Berlin is in development and is expected to begin production later this year.
The combined MHz/Topic platform will also feature some of the most acclaimed and popular European drama series, including Scandi noir classics The Killing, The Bridge, and Beck, Italian YA hit The Sea Beyond, Gallic drama A French Village, and German-Austrian thriller Pagan Peak.
“MHz Choice is now the ultimate destination for those who love international series, and especially European mysteries and Nordic noir,” said Ed Carroll, President, Kino Lorber Media Group. “Babylon Berlin is one of the crown jewels of television, a period drama whose timeless themes transcend geography and language in the way shows like A French Village, Downton Abbey or Mad Men have all around the world.”
Existing MHz Choice and Topic subscribers will be transitioned to the new service over the next several months. The service will initally launch at the current MHz Choice price of $7.99/month.