‘A Discovery of Witches’ Gets Simulcast On AMC & BBC America After Strong Debut On Sundance Now & Shudder

AMC Networks is giving a major platform to A Discovery of Witches following its breakout success on streaming services Sundance Now and Shudder. The first season of the series, starring Matthew Goode and Teresa Palmer, is getting a linear run in a simulcast on AMC and BBC America starting April 7 at 9 PM, following BBC America and AMC’s previously announced simulcast of Killing Eve at 8 PM.

Sky’s A Discovery of Witches last summer was picked up by AMC Networks’ OTT platforms Sundance Now and Shudder with a planned followup linear run on SundanceTV. In light of its digital success and the series’ compatibility with BBC America’s Killing Eve, a decision was recently made for the linear airing to be on the higher-profile BBC America as a companion to Killing Eve. Since AMC Networks already had announced that Season 2 of Killing Eve would simulcast on AMC, A Discovery of Witches also will air on both networks for additional exposure.

A Discovery of Witches already has been renewed for Seasons 2 and 3 by Sky, Sundance Now and Shudder. Production on the second season is slated to begin later this year.

The debut of A Discovery of Witches smashed Sundance Now records for total video plays, with 30x increase in the streams of any previous premiere during its first week – a record number of minutes streamed – and accounted for more than half of all streaming activity on the platform.  In anticipation of the series’ premiere, total subscribers to Sundance Now alone increased by nearly 30% since the start of January.  In addition, the week ending January 20 saw the largest number of new subscriptions, almost more than double the number added in any previous week. The series was also a monster hit in its Shudder debut, accounting for more minutes streamed than any on-demand film or series premiere in the service’s history.

“Thanks to the critical acclaim and overwhelmingly positive audience response to A Discovery of Witches, the series has found a new legion of fans. We are thrilled to bring it to a wider audience and pair it with Killing Eve on both AMC and BBC America,” said Sarah Barnett, President of AMC Entertainment Networks. “This is a great example of our cross-network strategy; to expose our series to new audiences across our ecosystem of networks and streaming services.”

Produced by Bad Wolf and adapted from Deborah Harkness’s  bestselling book of the same name, which returns tomorrow to the New York Times Book Reviews’ Combined Print & E-Book Best Seller list for the first time since August 2014, A Discovery of Witches is a modern-day love story, set in a world where witches, vampires and daemons secretly live and work alongside humans, hidden in plain sight.  The Sky original production stars Emmy®-nominated Matthew Goode (The Crown) and Teresa Palmer (Hacksaw Ridge) along with Alex Kingston (Doctor Who), Valarie Pettiford (Being Mary Jane) and Owen Teale (Game of Thrones).

Filmed in the UK at Wolf Studios Wales and on location in Oxford and Venice, A Discovery of Witches was adapted for screen by writer Kate Brooke, who also serves as executive producer. Co-founders of Bad Wolf, Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner and Lachlan MacKinnon are executive producers along with author Deborah Harkness. Juan Carlos Medina, Alice Troughton (Doctor Who) and Sarah Walker direct.