When Tesco launched Clubcard TV early last year, everything we saw suggested that the ad-supported streaming service would be nothing more than an experiment. That hunch has proved accurate, because the company has said it will shutter the free service on October 28th. According to a Clubcard TV support page, Tesco didn’t get “the level of repeat usage [it] had hoped for,” so it’ll close the service in order to concentrate on its more established resource, Blinkbox.
Tesco will close Clubcard TV, its ad-supported movie and TV streaming service, on October 28. The supermarket quietly announced its decision in a support page, citing a lack of interest from its sizeable Clubcard community in the UK. “Whilst many enjoyed our free service, we weren’t getting the level of repeat usage we had hoped for,” the company explained. Clubcard TV is powered by Blinkbox, a Tesco-owned on-demand streaming service where viewers buy or rent titles individually. Launched in March 2013, Clubcard TV was different because it was supported by advertising and exclusive to Tesco’s Clubcard owners. “Thousands” of movies and TV shows were available to watch without any discernible fees or subscriptions.