NBCU Reality SVOD Service Comes to U.K., Ireland & Australia

LONDON: NBCUniversal International has unveiled hayu, an SVOD service dedicated to reality programming, set to launch in March in the U.K., Ireland and Australia.

hayu will feature more than 3,000 episodes of reality content at launch. New episodes will be added to the service every week, the majority of which will debut on the same day as they premiere in the U.S., with 500-plus episodes added to the service each year. A host of series never seen before in the U.K., Ireland and Australia will be available via full box sets.

Series offerings include Keeping Up with the Kardashians and its spin-offs along with The Real Housewives, Million Dollar Listing and Top Chef franchises, I Am Cait, Made in Chelsea, Flipping Out, Shahs of Sunset, The Millionaire Matchmaker, RuPaul’s Drag Race (U.K. and Ireland) and Don’t Tell the Bride (U.K. and Ireland). hayu will also offer users specially made short-form content snippets, selected from the original episodes, which can be shared directly via fans’ social media accounts.

Kevin MacLellan, the chairman of NBCUniversal International, commented: “NBCUniversal’s expertise as the foremost producer of reality programming—along with the obvious popularity of the genre—was the trigger for launching hayu. We know that reality content is a primary driver of social interaction and that fans of reality TV significantly over-index in online viewing. We set out to build a service that elegantly combines the best high-end reality shows with the most popular social media and digital news platforms. Uniquely in hayu, fans can find it all in one place.”