RLJ Entertainment and Float Left Interactive Bring Acorn TV to Samsung Smart TV

JUPITER, Fla., Jan. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Float Left Interactive, a leader in TV application solutions, and RLJ Entertainment (NASDAQ: RLJE) announced today that Acorn TV, the first streaming service focused on the best of British TV in North America, has extended to Samsung Smart TV and Blu-ray players.

Launched in July 2011, Acorn TV is currently available online via www.acorn.tv and through iPhone, iPad, Samsung Smart TV and Blu-ray players. Float Left and Acorn TV will be adding support for more devices this year.

Called the "chief curators of the best Brit TV" by TIME magazine, RLJ Entertainment's Acorn brand holds exclusive North American distribution rights to the most critically acclaimed British programs, which are available for streaming on Acorn TV and from Acorn in lavishly packaged DVDs/Blu-rays. RLJ Entertainment also manages the literary estate of Agatha Christie, the best-selling novelist of all time, and owns the hugely popular period detective series Foyle's War.

"Given their experience of developing applications across multiple connected platforms and emphasis on providing a premium user experience, Float Left Interactive was a natural choice for us to partner with on our device expansion," said Titus Bicknell, RLJ Entertainment's Chief Digital Officer. "Since Acorn TV has two big U.S. Premieres in February with the final season of Foyle's War and the Jamie Dornan miniseries New Worlds, we're excited to add Samsung to our available platforms, so British drama and mystery fans have more ways to watch Acorn TV. We look forward to working with Float Left Interactive to increase our viewership by making Acorn TV, as well as RLJ Entertainment's other proprietary digital channels, UMC – Urban Movie Channel and Acacia TV, available on more platforms."

"It has been a pleasure working with RLJE to deliver the Acorn TV service to Samsung," said Kirby Grines, VP of Business Development. "Users across multiple devices are demanding Acorn TV and we're working with RLJE to make the service accessible to them. With Acorn TV now available on Samsung Smart TV devices, the app is going to reach a substantial number of users it was not previously serving which is exciting for everybody."

Float Left has been developing smart TV applications for customers since 2009, connecting brands to their audiences across the smart TV ecosystem. By leveraging their cross-platform development framework (XDF), Float Left is able to deploy their customers' applications with a single code base, thereby giving them a significant advantage in delivering a multiplatform experience.

About Float Left Interactive Float Left Interactive is a leading provider of TV app solutions and specializes in developing innovative, cross-platform video experiences for the biggest screen in the home — the TV.

Since 2009, Float Left has developed over 175 TV apps including TV Everywhere, video on demand, live broadcast, news, and music streaming channels. Select customers include Roku, Gaiam TV, Anime Network, Newsy, and Viki.

Float Left is headquartered in Jupiter, Florida and is slated to open a second office in New York City in Spring 2015.

More information about Float Left Interactive is available at http://www.floatleftinteractive.com, Twitter: https://twitter.com/FL_Interactive, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/floatleftinteractive

About RLJ Entertainment RLJ Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: RLJE) is a premier independent owner, developer, licensee, and distributor of entertainment content and programming in primarily North America, the United Kingdom, and Australia. RLJE is a leader in numerous genres via its owned and distributed brands such as Acorn (British TV), Image (feature films, stand-up comedy), UMC (urban), Acacia (fitness), Athena (documentaries), and Madacy (gift sets). These titles are distributed in multiple formats including broadcast television (including satellite and cable), theatrical and non-theatrical, DVD, Blu-Ray, digital download, and digital streaming.

Via its relationship with Agatha Christie Limited, a company that RLJE owns 64% of, RLJE manages the intellectual property and publishing rights to some of the greatest works of mystery fiction, including stories of the iconic sleuths Miss Marple and Poirot. RLJE also owns all rights to the hit UK mystery series Foyle's War.

RLJE leverages its management experience to acquire, distribute and monetize existing and original content for its many distribution channels, including its branded digital subscription channels, Acorn TV, Acacia TV, and UMC, and engages distinct audiences with programming that appeals directly to their unique viewing interests. Through its proprietary e-commerce web sites and print catalogs for the Acorn and Acacia brands, RLJE has direct contacts and billing relationships with millions of consumers.

SOURCE Float Left Interactive