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Acorn TV US vs UK – Who’s got the best shows?

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What is Acorn TV?

Acorn TV is an American streaming service that airs predominantly UK TV shows, with a few offerings from a handful of other territories’ thrown in for good measure.

It seems as though American culture vultures can’t get enough of anything ‘British’, and really, who can blame them? UK TV provides some of the best programming in the world, with masses of quaint culture mystery murders through to gritty, hard-hitting police dramas and psychological thrillers.

The additional content that the Acorn Media Group has thrown in on top of its UK selection comes from Canada, Australia, and a few others. Chiefly, though, much of its catalogue comes from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, All3Media, DRG, and ZDF.

To give you a decent taste of what you’re going to get—if you haven’t heard of the channel before—think Bloodlands, The Attaché, Law & Order: UK, The Silence, and Deadwater Fell. Then there’s a generous provision of documentaries if those are more your taste, including such titles as Paradise Gardens with Monty Don to The Cat Hospital or even their biographical feature about The Real Prince Philip.

Low-cost access to so many UK favourites

Acorn TV makes a great add-on to your existing viewing. It’s never going to provide you with the same sort of blockbuster action that Netflix and Prime do, but for loose change ($5.99 US/month or £4.99 UK/month), it’s certainly not going to break the bank.

If you’re outside these two territories and are pining for some traditionally British drama, documentaries, or murder mysteries, then it’s well worth a shout. There’s enough good, hearty, unmistakably British content there to keep the most hungry satisfied.

What’s the difference between watching Acorn TV in the UK and the US?

Almost all of the viewing on Acorn TV in the UK is or has been available on another channel at some point. Brits will pass a glancing eye over the shows and features on Acorn TV, seeing it as a platform where they can find some old favourites or current shows that have disappeared from the mainstream channels. If they fancy re-running a series they might have missed before or fancy dipping into some mid-week afternoon drama, Acorn is a great place to start.

Acorn TV tells a different story in the States

For US viewers, it’s a real first point of contact for that quintessential and charming British TV. Acorn TV premiered Detectorists, Vera, Inspector George Gently, and Midsomer Murders in America. British culture is a real passion amongst many American residents, and Acorn is a great place to soak it all up.

Why are there different catalogues for the UK and US Acorn TV platforms?

Given that British TV providers distribute the bulk of their content, there are a few licensing rights and crossovers within the UK that aren’t quite as problematic in the US.

Licensing laws and international regulations play their part in who gets to watch what and where.

Acorn Originals US and UK

As is popular with many streaming services, one easy way of getting around all the licensing issues is to produce your own programs—and Acorn is no exception. They’re building quite a selection of Acorn Originals, which begs why such a small percentage are available on the UK platform? We can only guess it’s more licensing fun and games, especially seeing some UK library titles aren’t available in the US and vice versa. However, with StreamLocator in the mix, you can be anywhere you want to be—so it’s all up for grabs if you want it.

Which one’s the best—Acorn TV UK or US?

When you sit both websites side-by-side—UK and US and pull up the content, there are plenty of filters to organise your titles.

Here’s where you really see a difference.

The US website has masses more content than the UK version. The UK website offers a meagre 75 shows and the US 363. I think that tells us a lot about who's got the best content.

Admittedly, as noticed previously, some of the titles on the British platform don’t appear in the US catalogue and vice versa, but unless they’re the shows you really can’t do without, opting for the vastly superior-in-size selection you get from the American platform seems like a no-brainer.

You can understand how the UK service will find it trickier to land exclusive rights to programs. So many are already airing over other channels and streaming services in the country, after all. Whereas in the States, well, it’s a bit of a free for all when it comes to UK content.

We’d plump for the US platform, purely on numbers. They’ve got more titles from more providers.

Acorn Originals in the US

Bloodlands
The South Westerlies
Mystery Road
The Sounds
The Other One
The Nest
Queens of Mystery
Dead Still
Deadwater Fell
Blood
Agatha Raisin
Keeping Faith
London Kills
Martin Clunes: Islands of America
Straight Forward
Pitching In
Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries
Martin Clunes: Manhunt
Foyle’s War
Striking Out
Girlfriends
Detectorists
Love, Lies & Records
Acceptable Risk
Loch Ness
Agatha Christie’s: The Witness for the Prosecution
The Level
Close to the Enemy

Documentaries on Acorn TV US

Saving Britain’s Worst Zoo
Cat Hospital
The Real Prince Philip
Muse of Fire: A Shakespearean Road Movie
The Secret History of the British Garden
Wartime Farm
Bone Detectives
Pride & Prejudice: Having a Ball
Victorian Farm
Growing Up Gracefully
The Yorkshire Vet
Prince Charles: Inside the Duchy of Cornwall
Heavenly Gardens
Tales of Irish Castles
The Badness of King George IV
Churchill: Blood, Sweat & Oil Paint
Narnia’s Lost Poet: The Secret Lives & Loves of C.S. Lewis
The Genius of Roald Dahl
The Brilliant Brontë Sisters
The Ballroom Boys
Civil War
At Home with the Georgians
Julia Bradbury’s Wainwright Walks
Edward & Mary: The Unknown Tudors
Digging for Britain

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