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BritBox is an online digital video subscription service, founded by

BBC Studios BBC Studios is a British content company. It is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC that was formed in April 2018 through the merger of the BBC's commercial production arm and the BBC's commercial international distribution arm, BBC Worldwide. ...

and

ITV plc ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom. ITV plc is listed on the ...

, operating in nine countries across North America, Europe, Australia and South Africa."BritBox lands in Canada, sure to be a major disruptor in ever-shifting TV landscape"
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', 18 February 2018. It is focused on

British television series This is a list of television series that have been aired in the United Kingdom. British programming Universal Channel * '' House'' * ''Royal Pains'' * ''Chance'' * ''Condor'' * '' Major Crimes'' * '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' ...

and

films A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

, mainly featuring current and past series and films supplied from two British terrestrial broadcasters of the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

and ITV (

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

and Channel 5 programming are available on the UK service), in addition to original programming. BritBox is said to feature the biggest collection of British

box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

s available in one place, with additional original programming available from 2020. BritBox was first launched in the United States on 7 March 2017, followed by a launch in Canada on 14 February 2018. A separately managed UK service was launched on 7 November 2019. From 2020, the service has since launched in Australia, South Africa, and in the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...

of Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway, through local partnerships in these four countries. The service in the UK and the international services are operated differently, and host differing content, including BritBox UK's exclusive original content. There are content restrictions between each platform, leading some content to be available on one platform and unavailable on another. BritBox provides new episodes to British soaps and dramas such as ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

and

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, '' ...

'', within hours of their UK broadcast via BritBox's 'Now' feature to US and Canadian users, but also includes extensive archives of older programming, such as the popular ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' classic series on the service. It reported a subscriber base of 250,000 within a year since launching in the US. In 2019, 650,000 subscribers were reported from the North American platform. In early 2020, the number of US and Canadian subscribers surpassed 1 million users, to around 1.2 million by August, and 1.5 million by October, following strong growth in the North American service due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. On 9 March 2021, it was reported that the UK service had surpassed 500,000 subscribers, meeting BritBox's UK target. Will Harrison, BritBox UK's managing director told members of the UK Broadcasting Press Guild that BritBox was "very happy" at how the service had performed since its November 2019 launch. By 1 July 2022, it had reached 2.6 million.

History

Failed "Project Kangaroo"

Though not officially described as its successor, BritBox has been likened to an earlier attempt by UK public service broadcasters (PSBs) (

BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetises BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadcas ...

, ITV plc and Channel 4) to create an online

video-on-demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

download service, codenamed "Project Kangaroo", in November 2007. This followed the launches of the broadcasters' own video-on-demand services. On Wednesday, 4 February 2009, Project Kangaroo was blocked by the then

Competition Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competition regulator under t ...

. The commission stated that the case surrounding Kangaroo was about the control of valuable UK-originated TV content. "BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4 together control the vast majority of this material, which puts them in a very strong position as wholesalers of TV content to restrict competition from other current and future providers of video-on-demand services to UK viewers," said Peter Freeman, the chairman of the Competition Commission, in its final report on Project Kangaroo. "We thought viewers would benefit from better video-on-demand oDservices if the parties – possibly in conjunction with other new and/or already established providers of VoD – competed with each other." A Channel 4 spokesperson said at the time, "This is a disproportionate remedy and a missed opportunity in the further development of British broadcasting." After the planned Project Kangaroo was blocked, the system's assets were sold to transmitter firm

Arqiva Arqiva () is a British telecommunications company which provides infrastructure, broadcast transmission and smart meter facilities in the United Kingdom. The company is headquartered at the former Independent Broadcasting Authority headquart ...

and this led to the development of the service

SeeSaw A seesaw (also known as a teeter-totter or teeterboard) is a long, narrow board supported by a single pivot point, most commonly located at the midpoint between both ends; as one end goes up, the other goes down. These are most commonly found a ...

, which operated from February 2010 to October 2011, with content from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5, some of which (such as ''Doctor Who'') now appears on BritBox.

Rise of streaming

Since the rise of

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

and subsequent other Subscription Video on Demand services (SVODs), European PSBs and media companies, in particular, have started to find ways to compete with the increasing dominance of American SVODs, and many old rivalries have been put aside in preference of collaboration by creating jointly-controlled SVODs, such as BritBox, Salto (backed by French networks

TF1 Group TF1 Group (french: Groupe TF1) is a French media holding company. Its best-known property is the broadcast network TF1. The group was formed after TF1 was privatized in April 1987. It is controlled with a 43% stake by Bouygues, and is quoted ...

France Télévisions France Télévisions (; stylized since 2018 as ) is the French national public television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the integration of the public television channels France 2 (formerly Antenne 2) and France 3 (former ...

and M6), and Germany-based Joyn (a joint venture between

ProSiebenSat.1 Media ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE (officially abbreviated as P7S1, formerly ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG) is a German mass media & digital company. It operates in three segments: Entertainment, Dating and Commerce & Ventures. The company is listed on the Fran ...

and

Discovery, Inc. Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual television, factual and lifestyle television bra ...

). Such actions are motivated by reports showing younger generations shunning terrestrial TV, and with fears that PSBs have no choice but to adapt in the rapidly changing television market.

Establishment of joint venture

Following increased competition from the streaming giants on the public service broadcasters, the BBC (through BBC Worldwide) and ITV announced plans to create a Netflix-style TV service. Talks between the BBC and ITV to launch this streaming service took place in March 2016, with

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primari ...

also initially in the talks. BritBox's launch in the United States was officially announced in December 2016, with it launching on 7 March 2017. The BBC and ITV announced several shows they would be running on BritBox including ''New Blood'', ''Tutankhamun'', ''The Moonstone, In The Dark,'' Cold ''Feet'' and crime series ''Silent Witness'' on US launch. On 14 February 2018, BritBox launched in Canada. In February 2019, it was announced that BritBox would be launched in the UK later in the year as a rival to Netflix. Journalist Mark Lawson likened the proposed project to BBC Worldwide's previous failed platform, Project Kangaroo, which was expected to launch in 2008, and described it as "bizarre" and "hugely risky". In March 2019, Channel 4 confirmed interest in collaborating with the BBC and ITV. ''

McMafia ''McMafia'' is a British crime drama television series created by Hossein Amini and James Watkins, and directed by Watkins. It is inspired by the book '' McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld'' by journalist Misha Glenny ...

'', ''

Last Tango in Halifax ''Last Tango in Halifax'' is a British comedy-drama series that began broadcasting on BBC One on 20 November 2012 until its final episode which was broadcast on 15 March 2020. Screenwriter Sally Wainwright loosely adapted the story of her mothe ...

'', ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...

'' and the sitcom ''

Gavin & Stacey ''Gavin & Stacey'' is a British sitcom written by James Corden and Ruth Jones about two families: one in Billericay, Essex; one in Barry, South Wales. Mathew Horne and Joanna Page play the titular characters Gavin and Stacey and the writers st ...

'' were some of the programmes available on the UK version, at launch. In July 2019, the BBC and ITV announced they had signed an agreement to launch BritBox in the UK in the last quarter of 2019. On 20 September 2019, ITV announced they had reached a deal with

ViacomCBS Paramount Global (doing business as Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned and operated by National Amusements (79.4%) and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York. I ...

(now

Paramount Global Paramount Global (doing business as Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned and operated by National Amusements (79.4%) and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York. I ...

) for Channel 5 and

Comedy Central UK Comedy Central is a British pay television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated. This channel is specific to audiences within the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is aligned with the original US versi ...

content. This was followed by an announcement on 27 September that Samsung TVs,

Freeview Play Freeview is the United Kingdom's sole Digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom, digital terrestrial television platform. It is operated by Digital UK Ltd and DTV Services Ltd, a joint venture between the BBC, ITV plc, ITV, Channel ...

and

YouView YouView is a hybrid television platform in the United Kingdom developed by YouView TV Ltd., a partnership of four broadcasters, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5; and three telecommunications operators, Arqiva, BT Group and TalkTalk Gro ...

would be the first distribution platforms. In October 2019, BritBox launched its "testing phase" (beta) in the United Kingdom, to which users could sign up for a free trial to have a "snapshot of what will be there at launch". On 15 October 2019, BBC Studios global distribution president, Paul Dempsey, admitted there were more markets where the UK-skewing service could work. Alongside the launch of BritBox in Australia, taking the service into its fourth market, BBC Studios and ITV have announced that they will continue to evaluate new opportunities for the roll-out of BritBox in additional territories around the world. One day before UK launch, on 6 November 2019, ''The Guardian'' reported that Channel 4 was to join BritBox after it signed a 3-year deal to provide 1000+ hours of content from

All 4 All 4 is a video on demand service from the Channel Four Television Corporation, free of charge for most content and funded by advertising. The service is available in the UK and Ireland; viewers are not required to have a TV licence—required ...

"with a range of comedy, drama and non-scripted programmes from across the service, including new series, and for the first time to any streamer, an exclusive

Film4 Film4 is a British free-to-air television network owned by Channel Four Television Corporation launched on 1 November 1998, devoted to broadcasting films. While its standard-definition channel is available on Freeview and Freesat platforms, it ...

curated service featuring iconic British films". This means for the first time, all the UK's traditional channels have managed to successfully bring together programmes on a single streaming service. Channel 4 content would be available on BritBox from April 2020 and Film4 content from September 2020, with recently aired content being only available on BritBox 31 days after the airing of the last episode on Channel 4. Channel 4 currently has not taken an equity stake in BritBox. In March 2020, ITV described BritBox as "on plan" following its UK launch last November. The majority-owner in the BBC-ITV streaming venture reported a "strong growth" in subscribers, but didn't report any specific numbers. On 5 March 2020, BBC and ITV announced the launch of BritBox in Australia, the service would bring Australians "an unrivalled collection of great British TV shows, and will build on the successful launch and operation of the service in both North America (the USA and Canada) and most recently in the UK". British content from across the past decades, including classic and contemporary box sets from the UK, would be directly available to Australian viewers via a wide range of mobile and connected home devices. BritBox Australia will be run as a 50/50 joint venture partnership between ITV and BBC Studios, and ITV says, the service will draw on the experience of the teams and technology used to successfully launch BritBox in North America and the UK while also recruiting a local team to conduct Australian operations. On 27 July 2020, BritBox announced plans to expand the service to 25 more countries across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, South America and Africa. It was not specified which countries BritBox is targeting or what timeframe the rollout is expected to be completed. Following the announcement, ITV CEO Carolyn McCall said: “This international expansion plan will firmly establish BritBox as a global premium brand in a rapidly growing sector” and BBC Studios CEO Tim Davie added: “BritBox has very quickly found a place in viewers’ hearts and we know there is further appetite amongst international audiences who love great British content.” On 21 August 2020, ITV and BBC Studios announced they're set to invest more than A$35 million (€21.2m) into BritBox Australia, which is scheduled to launch in late 2020. BBC Studios and ITV will both invest A$17.7m ($12.7m) into the new SVoD platform over the next three years. ITV has since confirmed to the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

that BritBox Australia is on track to launch on time despite the COVID-19 pandemic, following the confirmation of investment from the UK broadcaster's subsidiary "ITV SVOD Australia Pty Ltd" into the BritBox Australia Partnership (branded as "BritBox Australia") over a period of three years. In late September 2020, ITV group director, SVOD, Reemah Sakaan addressed the plans to ramp up the service's international presence, she said that BritBox would primarily target markets that consume large amounts of English-language entertainment including large ones such as India, as well as "passion"-driven markets such as the

. She said that the Joint venture would look at different structures depending on the specific opportunity, with some potentially taking a B2B2C (Business-to-Business-to-Consumer) form rather than a direct D2C (Direct to Consumer) approach, i.e. BritBox partnering with a local distributor or service provider. She added that BritBox is "focused on moving as fast as we can" into international markets. The service launched in Australia on 23 November 2020, which ITV states is recognised globally as "Doctor Who Day". On 16 February 2021, BBC Studios and ITV announced that BritBox is to launch in South Africa in the second half of 2021. Like most services outside the United Kingdom, the South African service will be a 50/50 joint venture between BBC Studios and ITV. On 8 March 2021, it was announced that BritBox UK would join Amazon Video Channels in spring 2021 for UK Amazon Prime subscribers, and on 9 March it was announced that the UK service had surpassed 500,000 subscribers. The launch date for the South African platform was announced on 27 July 2021, and it launched on 6 August 2021. On 14 December 2021, BritBox International announced a distribution partnership with

C More C More Entertainment AB is a pay television company that previously operated as Canal+. It targets Nordic countries and has a separate channel in Sweden (C More Film). The main competitors of C More Entertainment are Viasat Film and Viasat Sp ...

( TV 2 would be the distributor in Norway), bringing the service to C More and TV 2 Play subscribers in the

of Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway from early 2022. Standalone sign up to BritBox directly is available through BritBox's website in these countries. The service launched on 28 April 2022.

Growth and profitability

On 5 December 2019, ITV's subscription video on demand Group Director Reemah Sakaan said in an interview that the service in North America had reached profitability; this was followed in 2020 by the news that the service there had surpassed 1 million users. A study commissioned by the UK media regulator

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...

previously predicted that BritBox could have 2 million UK subscribers by the year 2023, alongside newly launched US-based SVODs

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

and

Apple TV+ Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its secon ...

. Following the COVID-19 pandemic and frequent national and local lockdowns, in August it was reported BritBox had surpassed 1.2 million subscribers in North America. BBC Studios said the streaming service "went from strength to strength, reaching 1.2 million subscribers in North America after year-end to become the fastest-growing targeted SVOD service." On 6 October 2020, it was announced that Soumya Sriraman would depart as BritBox US and Canada's president, following the announcement that BritBox had reached 1.5 million subscribers in the US and Canada. The North American service was reported to exceeded all company targets and, according to Parks Associates OTT tracker, remains the fastest-growing targeted standalone SVOD service to have launched within the last three years. On 23 October, it was announced Emily Powers would lead the North American service when Soumya Sriraman departs at the end of October. On 24 February 2021, Reemah Sakaan was announced to become the international CEO of BritBox. Her term at BritBox International will start in April 2021 and she would be tasked with expanding BritBox's operations outside the United Kingdom. She will oversee a team of around 100 content, customer management and business executives, including, Emily Powers, the EVP and head of BritBox North America, and Moira Hogan, country manager for BritBox Australia. In July 2021,

Diederick Santer Diederick Santer (born 3 July 1969) is a British television producer and is best known for his work on the popular BBC television soap opera ''EastEnders'', a post which he assumed on 23 October 2006 and left on 1 March 2010. He was Chief Exec ...

was appointed international chief creative officer of BritBox.

BritBox UK and ITVX

In March 2022, ITV announced that their new

ITVX ITVX (formerly ITV Hub) is a British online video-on-demand service operated by ITV plc, ITV. The service offers predominantly features content from ITV1, as well as ITV Digital Channels, ITV Digital channels and some licensed content. The serv ...

streaming platform - an integrated advertising and subscription funded platform for the UK market which will take over from catch-up service ITV Hub - would also include access to BritBox for British consumers. Due to this announcement the BBC has decided to sell their share in BritBox UK to ITV but still will remain a content provider to the service.

Ownership and areas served

The BritBox service is operated by different entities depending on country of operation. Prior to 2022, the BBC was directly involved in the ownership of the UK service. BritBox outside the UK are operated by BBC Studios, the BBC's commercial subsidiary, due to restrictions on (

TV Licence A television licence or broadcast receiving licence is a payment required in many countries for the reception of Television broadcasting, television broadcasts, or the possession of a television set where some broadcasts are funded in full or ...

) funding between domestic and international services. The service in the United States and Canada is owned by BritBox LLC, a joint venture of BBC Studios and ITV plc, both owning a 50% equal majority share each.

AMC Networks AMC Networks Inc. is an American entertainment company headquartered in 11 Penn Plaza, New York. AMC Networks owns and operates the eponymous cable channel and its siblings, IFC, We TV, and Sundance TV; the art house movie theater IFC Cen ...

, the BBC's joint partner on the US cable channel

BBC America BBC America is an American basic cable network that is jointly owned by BBC Studios and AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary ser ...

, is an investor and has a non-voting minority stake in the service. Concerns have risen since they purchased

RLJ Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 340 ...

(who owns a rival British TV service

Acorn TV The acorn, or oaknut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera ''Quercus'' and '' Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains one seed (occasionally two seeds), enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne ...

) and their own

AMC+ AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** AM ...

Shudder Shudder may refer to: *Shivering * ''Shudder'' (album), a 2008 album by American band Bayside *Shudder (streaming service) Shudder is an American over-the-top subscription video on demand service featuring horror, thriller and supernatural fic ...

, Allblk and

HIDIVE Sentai Filmworks, LLC or just Sentai, is an American entertainment company owned by AMC Networks. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is Sen ...

SVOD services, as well as its stake in

Philo Philo of Alexandria (; grc, Φίλων, Phílōn; he, יְדִידְיָה, Yəḏīḏyāh (Jedediah); ), also called Philo Judaeus, was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt. Philo's deplo ...

MVPD service. The service in the United Kingdom is wholly-owned by ITV plc. The service was originally a joint venture of the BBC and ITV plc.

Channel Four Television Corporation Channel Four Television Corporation is a British state-owned media company headquartered in London. Its original and principal activity is the British national television network Channel 4. The company was founded in 1982 as the Channel Four T ...

and

Paramount Networks UK & Australia Paramount Networks UK & Australia (formerly ViacomCBS Networks UK & Australia) is a subsidiary of Paramount Global. The unit launched in 2020 and is based in London, United Kingdom, with a local office in Sydney, Australia. Units See also ...

on behalf of Channel 5, offered content for the service in the UK but took no shares in the joint venture operator. In March 2022, ITV announced that it had bought out the remaining stakes of the service it did not already own, and that it planned to integrate the service into an upcoming video on demand platform known as ITVX. The service in Australia is operated by the BritBox Australia Partnership, equally owned (50%) by both BBC Studios and ITV plc. It launched on 23 November 2020. The service in South Africa is equally owned by BBC Studios and ITV plc at 50% shares each. The services in the Nordic countries would be distributed by TV 2 in Norway, and

in Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Signups to BritBox International directly are available through its website.

Content

Original programmes

In September 2017, BritBox released a reconstruction of the ''Doctor Who'' story ''

The Wheel in Space ''The Wheel in Space'' is the mostly missing seventh and final serial of the fifth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which originally aired in six weekly parts from 27 April to 1 June 1968. In this seria ...

'' using the surviving episodes and reconstruction using

Tele-snaps Tele-snaps (often known as telesnaps) were off-screen photographs of British television broadcasts, taken and sold commercially by John Cura (born Alberto Giovanni Cura in Clapham, South London, England; 9 April 1902 – 21 April 1969). From 1947 ...

. In July 2018, '' The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco'' made its debut, the first original drama series in which BritBox held a direct production role. More original content is set to be commissioned and produced for 2020, following the platform's UK launch, with the BBC Media Centre stating "The first new show is expected to be commissioned soon and will be available to BritBox viewers from 2020". The goal is to offer exclusive content only available on BritBox, rather than BBC and ITV's UK VOD services

BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services del ...

and

ITV Hub ITVX (formerly ITV Hub) is a British online video-on-demand service operated by ITV plc, ITV. The service offers predominantly features content from ITV1, as well as ITV Digital Channels, ITV Digital channels and some licensed content. The serv ...

. The annual budget for original programmes will be in the tens of millions of pounds according to

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

.BritBox: ITV and BBC set out plans for new streaming service
BBC News 19 July 2019 ITV has pledged to invest up to £65m in the joint venture over the next two years to 2021, and the BBC has said their pledge would be in the "tens of millions". It was confirmed in March 2020 that the first original commission to be shown on BritBox UK would be a revival of the satirical puppet show ''

Spitting Image ''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television ov ...

''. The series, featuring 100 new puppets, debuted on 3 October 2020. In the table below, "exclusive" refers to a programme where it is only available on, whilst "debut" refers to the platform a programme is first available on.

Drama

Comedy

Factual

Film and television deals

In addition to containing the catalogues of BBC and ITV television, BritBox UK includes content from Channel 4 (including

), and

through the UK channels Channel 5 and Comedy Central. Other potential networks to offer content or ownership of BritBox include: NBCUniversal (owned by

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

) and BT. Such collaboration would greatly increase BritBox's catalogue and financial resources when competing with other streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney+ and

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

. BT and NBCUniversal were reportedly in early talks with BritBox, but the progress of the talks have yet to be stated, with NBCUniversal investing in their streaming service,

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

in the US from 2020 and its parent Comcast owning

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

's UK streaming service

Now TV Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * No ...

, making full collaboration with NBCUniversal unlikely. BT has since signed a partnership with BritBox in which the service will complement its content. In the early days of BritBox, Channel 4 was reportedly in talks with BritBox for a long period, ITV chief executive Carolyn McCall confirmed to ''

RadioTimes.com ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' that talks are "continuing" with Channel 4 and said that they will "welcome Channel 4 to BritBox". On 6 November, ''The Guardian'' reported that Channel 4 is to join BritBox, with its content available on the service from April 2020. However, Channel 4, a publisher-broadcaster, must commission UK content from independent production companies and currently works with around 300 companies across the UK every year. As such, Channel 4 potentially lacks the streaming rights to many of the shows it broadcasts. Many independent broadcasters potentially waive these rights to strike other deals with larger SVODs (for outside UK rights) while retaining control over their intellectual property. This would therefore potentially cause the UK platform to have differing content from the international platforms. Content co-produced between British broadcasters and larger SVODs like Netflix and Prime Video are not likely to be available on all or most BritBox platforms. This includes shows like the ITV Studios produced, BBC series ''

Bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers, w ...

'', which a BritBox spokesperson said "Can't come back home", adding that "going forward, ritBoxwon't licence things to Netflix and Amazon in the first place because we now have a home, a streaming service in the UK". With programming rights becoming an important issue for BritBox, the BBC and ITV have worked to keep programming rights by making deals, purchasing production companies (as with ITV Studios) or producing content for each other. In September 2020, BritBox UK's managing director, Will Harrison said in terms of distribution, BritBox UK's availability had expanded to some 21 million devices – equating to some 13 million homes in the UK – meaning that BritBox didn't need a pay-TV distribution partner, although Harrison admitted that BritBox would like to continue those relationships, given the benefits of integration and marketing with their partners, "We continue to have those conversations.", meaning BritBox's focus is primarily on developing direct relationships and device rollouts rather than developing relationships with platforms. He advised that in early October 2020, BT was launching an offer for its broadband customers to get six months BritBox for free on its YouView box. "That's eight million BT broadband homes." Harrison also added that the expansion of catch-up windows for iPlayer and ITV Hub meant that BritBox was also looking at non-exclusive content. Although he clarified that two-thirds of content on BritBox should remain fully exclusive "so we can live with a bit of overlap". He said that BritBox could also act as a source of complete box sets alongside the catch-up services. * after airing, not all content is expected to be on BritBox during the stated time frame.

Criticism

Excluded and controversial content

''This may not apply to all platforms.'' A big part of the BritBox catalogue is the extensive archives of the public service broadcasters, BritBox faces the challenge of hosting content that contains outdated stereotypes and opinions. In response to this, BritBox has announced that it would not include classic homegrown series that are deemed to be inappropriate for modern audiences. BritBox bosses have said a range of older shows, such as the BBC's ''

Till Death Us Do Part ''Till Death Us Do Part'' is a British television sitcom that aired on BBC1 from 1965 to 1975. The show was first broadcast in 1965 as a ''Comedy Playhouse'' pilot, then as seven series between 1966 and 1975. In 1981, ITV continued the sitcom ...

'' and ''

It Ain't Half Hot Mum ''It Ain't Half Hot, Mum'' is a BBC television sitcom about a Royal Artillery concert party based in Deolali in British India and the fictional village of Tin Min in Burma, during the last months of the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy ...

'', as well as ITV's ''

Love Thy Neighbour Love Thy Neighbor or Love Thy Neighbour refers to the Biblical phrase "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" from the Book of Leviticus 19:18 in the Old Testament about the ethic of reciprocity known as the Golden Rule or the Great Commandment. ...

'', will not appear on the service because of content deemed racist or otherwise unacceptable. Reemah Sakaan, the senior ITV executive responsible for launching the subscription video-on-demand service, said "We also recomply everything that goes on to BritBox

ith modern TV viewing standards The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...

There's also the ability to create bespoke warnings around key programming." Sakaan confirmed that ''Till Death Us Do Part'', first aired on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

in 1965, which features the bigoted character

Alf Garnett Alfred Edward "Alf" Garnett is a fictional character from the British sitcom '' Till Death Us Do Part'' and its follow-on and spin-off series '' Till Death...'' and ''In Sickness and in Health''. He also appeared in the chat show ''The Thoughts ...

, and ITV's 1970s series ''Love Thy Neighbour'', a sitcom about a

West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). For more than 100 years the words ''West Indian'' specifically described natives of the West Indies, but by 1661 Europeans had begun to use it ...

couple who move next door to a

White British White British is an ethnicity classification used for the native white population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population wa ...

couple, will not appear on the service. Some individual episodes of the BBC's ''

Only Fools and Horses ''Only Fools and Horses....'' is a British television sitcom created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas specials aired until t ...

'' and a ''

'' serial from the original run (''

The Talons of Weng-Chiang ''The Talons of Weng-Chiang'' is the sixth and final serial of the 14th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 26 February to 2 April 1977. In the serial ...

'', 1977) are also deemed problematic. In the ''Doctor Who'' serial, people of Chinese extraction are termed "inscrutable Chinks" and an English actor performs in "yellowface". Some ''Fawlty Towers'' episodes will run with warnings of offensive language. The ''Doctor Who'' serial from 1977 has a warning attached indicating "Contains stereotypes that some may find offensive." In June 2020, following the widespread

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internati ...

, shows like ''

Little Britain Little Britain may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little Britain'' (sketch show), a British radio and then TV show ** ''Little Britain USA'', an American spin-off * "Little Britain", a song by Dreadzone from the 1995 album '' Second Light'' ...

'' were removed from BritBox, along with others, due to the use of

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

in the programme.

Non-exclusive deals

The sale of rights to BBC and Channel 5 content has caused some reporters to be wary of BritBox's viability as a platform for new content, due to deals with larger SVODs to exclusively stream newer BBC content and non-exclusive deals with Sky and Now TV to access Channel 5 box sets. However, many BBC Studios' deals have given licences to some of its content to many other SVODs on a non-exclusive basis. With newer or co-produced series more likely to be exclusive to certain SVODs, shown with the new 2020 original commissions being BritBox UK exclusive. Whereas Sky already has existing deals with not only Channel 5, but Channel 4 and the BBC to have certain box sets on their Sky and Now TV platforms in the UK. All current and future series of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'' will be exclusive to stream on

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...

in the US, following a deal between the two, on 1 August 2019. Other content from BBC Studios such as ''

The Honourable Woman ''The Honourable Woman'' is a 2014 British political spy thriller television miniseries in eight parts, directed and written by Hugo Blick for the BBC and SundanceTV. Featuring Maggie Gyllenhaal in the title role, it aired on BBC Two in the Un ...

'', ''

Luther Luther may refer to: People * Martin Luther (1483–1546), German monk credited with initiating the Protestant Reformation * Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), American minister and leader in the American civil rights movement * Luther (give ...

'', ''

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...

'', and the British version of ''

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series of ...

'' would be available on HBO Max on a non-exclusive basis, meaning they would potentially be also available on BritBox. On 1 April 2019, a 10-year content partnership was agreed between

and

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

, which will see Discovery become the exclusive global home of the BBC's landmark natural history programmes including the ''

Planet Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surface ...

'', '' Blue Planet'' and ''Life'' franchises for SVOD. The ''

Dynasties A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A d ...

'' series, hosted by

Sir David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...

, is included in the deal, as are future BBC-commissioned landmark series. This deal applies Worldwide except the UK, Ireland and

Greater China Greater China is an informal geographical area that shares commercial and cultural ties with the Han Chinese people. The notion of "Greater China" refers to the area that usually encompasses Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan in East A ...

, meaning such series may be unavailable on BritBox platforms outside the United Kingdom. Upcoming co-produced content between Discovery and BBC Studios would be exclusive to Discovery's upcoming streaming platform outside the UK. The Discovery deal includes around 500 hours of non-exclusive content, which will still be available on other streaming services. A BBC Studios spokesperson told TBI that the relationship with Discovery is "very significant and important but it is not 100% exclusive on all titles in all regions and is, therefore, able to co-exist alongside regional deals of this type", following BBC Studios' deal to provide factual content to Greek telco

OTE OTE is the national telecommunications provider of Greece. OTE may also refer to: * Ocean thermal energy conversion, a renewable energy source * Oda of Haldensleben (978–1023), daughter of the Margrave of the North March, Theoderich * On-ta ...

's pay-TV service

Cosmote TV Cosmote TV is the corporate name for two pay television services in Greece, owned by Greek telecommunication operator OTE. The two services are as follows: *Cosmote TV via OTT – Streaming platform *Cosmote TV via Satellite – Satellite telev ...

Limitations

With limitations to its budget and original programming when compared to other SVODs, BritBox faces strong competition in the increasingly crowded streaming market. Critics warn that BritBox needs to greatly increase its financial firepower and original programming to compete in especially the UK market, against rivals, Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+, following reports more Brits would subscribe to Disney+ over BritBox. Critics say that BritBox is no rival, and cannot rival Netflix without substantial resources. BritBox also faces direct competition with Acorn TV, an American streaming service that provides many British television programmes, among others, with the service recently launching in the UK.

Platforms

The list of available programmes differs between the Australian, Canadian, South African, UK and US platforms. For example, BritBox carries ''

'' in the US but not in Canada, where the corresponding rights have long been held by

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

. Meanwhile, in the UK, TV shows, especially produced by independent production companies (like the BBC show ''

Peaky Blinders The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1910s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to middle-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racke ...

'') may appear on the UK BritBox, as the BBC or ITV have the domestic broadcasting rights, but may not be available on BritBox elsewhere, due to the independent production companies giving international rights to services like Netflix. This means that depending on whether the BBC and ITV own only domestic rights, programmes on UK BritBox may not also be available on its international platforms outside of the UK. Alternatively, shows like '' Living the Dream'' may not appear on the UK BritBox, as it is broadcast by

and available on Sky's streaming service

in the UK, but currently appears on the US BritBox. BBC and ITV content currently on other streaming services are likely to be exclusive to BritBox once the other SVOD licences expire, therefore potentially leading to harmony in programming between the platforms. Any original content produced for all BritBox platforms is set to be exclusively on BritBox, however, some UK commissioned content may be UK exclusive. Whether content co-produced between British broadcasters and larger SVODs, like Netflix and Prime Video, will be on any BritBox platforms is unclear, these include shows like ''

'' in which a BritBox Spokesperson said "can't come back home", and who added that "going forward, we ritBoxwon't licence things to Netflix and Amazon in the first place because we now have a home, a streaming service in the UK", they also added that in response to not licensing to other SVODs, since its focus is on UK-produced series, the platform would not compete to acquire the rights to US or international shows. Recently aired or current shows made for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 terrestrially in the United Kingdom, would appear on their VOD services,

My5 My5 (previously Five Download and later Demand 5) is the brand name of video-on-demand services offered by Channel 5 in the United Kingdom. The service went live on 26 June 2008. It is owned by Paramount Global and operated by their Paramoun ...

and All 4 respectively before BritBox. These shows would then move to BritBox at a later date, then be exclusive to BritBox once the shows have expired on the terrestrial VOD, which is 30 days for ITV Hub and My5, 31 days for All 4 and 12 months for BBC iPlayer. New content not made exclusively for BritBox, but for the BBC for example, may not be available on BritBox platforms outside the UK, due to deals struck with other SVODs such as HBO Max and Discovery.

United States

BritBox's launch in the United States was announced in December 2016, it launched on 7 March 2017. Among the shows offered upon BritBox's initial launch, were the US premieres of '' New Blood'' and ''

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''. In addition, other episodes of new programmes available on the service include: On 1 August 2019, HBO Max announced its acquisition of library rights to several BBC Studios series, including the first 11 seasons of the 2005 ''Doctor Who'' revival, as well as future seasons 12–14. ''

'', ''

'', and the original British series ''

'' are also some other shows in the acquisition. HBO Max will also stream future seasons of ''Doctor Who'' after their initial run on

. Newer ''Doctor Who'' would be exclusive to HBO Max, with the other shows in the deal sold on a non-exclusive basis.

Canada

BritBox launched in Canada on 14 February 2018, on launch the service included a free 7-day trial and in which content can be streamed on the web, on an

iOS app The App Store is an app store platform, developed and maintained by Apple Inc., for mobile apps on its iOS and iPadOS operating systems. The store allows users to browse and download approved apps developed within Apple's iOS Software Deve ...

Apple TV An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

, Android, Samsung TVs,

Chromecast Chromecast is a line of digital media players developed by Google. The devices, designed as small dongles, can play Internet-streamed audio-visual content on a high-definition television or home audio system. The user can control playback with ...

and

Roku Roku ( ) is a brand of hardware digital media players manufactured by American company Roku, Inc. They offer access to streaming media content from online services. The first Roku model, developed in collaboration with Netflix, was introduce ...

. It comes with a free 7-day introductory trial and priced at CAD 8.99 per month on launch. Users who signed up for the service in the U.S. will be able to access their subscription in Canada. The catalogue of content on the Canadian platform is similar to the American platform, but minor differences do exist, for example, Coronation Street isn't on Canadian BritBox, due to CBC Television holding the Canadian broadcasting rights.

United Kingdom

BritBox launched in the UK on 7 November 2019. Unlike other platforms, the UK platform would include content from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 (which includes

Film4 Productions Film4 Productions is a British film production company owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. The company has been responsible for backing many films made in the United Kingdom. The company's first production was ''Walter'', directed by ...

), Channel 5 and Comedy Central UK. BritBox UK signed a partnership deal with Channel 4 in 2019, allowing the service to host over a thousand hours of content from All 4 over the next three years. New series will continue to appear on BritBox one month after transmission of the last episode on Channel 4's channels. An exclusive Film4 curated service featuring iconic British films was announced to follow the launch of Channel 4 content on BritBox later in 2020. On 21 August, BritBox UK confirmed a collection of 25 titles, primarily drawn from the Film4 library, including:

Trainspotting Trainspotting may refer to: * Trainspotting (hobby), an amateur interest in railways/railroads * ''Trainspotting'' (novel), a 1993 novel by Irvine Welsh ** ''Trainspotting'' (film), a 1996 film based on the novel *** ''Trainspotting'' (soundtr ...

, Beast, Charlotte Gray and

The Hatton Garden Job ''The Hatton Garden Job'', also known as ''One Last Heist'', is a 2017 British crime film. The film is a dramatization of real-life events in April 2015, when the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company, based underground in the Hatton Garden area o ...

which were made available on the service from 17 September 2020. A further 25 titles were added before the end of 2020. In 2022, ITV plc became the sole owner of the service in the UK, following its purchase of the BBC's 10% stake in the company.

Other countries

Australia

On 5 March 2020, the BBC and ITV announced that BritBox is to launch in Australia in late 2020. The service finally launched in Australia on 23 November 2020.

South Africa

On 27 July 2021, BBC and ITV set 6 August 2021 as the launch date for the platform, with the service priced at R99.99 per month, R999.90 per year, and a 7-day free trial. It launched on 6 August 2021.

Nordic countries

On 14 December 2021, BritBox International announced a distribution partnership with C More (TV 2 would be the distributor in Norway), bringing the service to C More and TV2 subscribers in the Nordic countries of Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway from early 2022. Users in these countries can signup directly to BritBox through its website. The service launched on 28 April 2022 in the four countries. In Denmark, the service is included in all C More subscription packages. In Finland, the service is available to subscribers to C More, C More Hockey and C More Total+. In Sweden, the service is available to subscribers of C More Standard or of a higher package.

Technical requirements

BritBox is only available to residents of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. Canadian and US residents can use BritBox in only each other's countries (with differences in show availability due to rights restrictions). Users in the four Nordic countries can use the service throughout the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

. The UK, Australian and South African service can only be accessed in that country.

Operating systems

Web browsers

Compatible devices

''Devices with

native application In computing, native software or data-formats are those that were designed to run on a particular operating system. In a more technical sense, native code is code written specifically for a certain processor. In contrast, cross-platform software c ...

Notes

References

External links

* – official site * – official site {{UK Based TV on demand BBC ITV (TV network) Subscription video on demand services 2017 establishments in the United States Internet properties established in 2017 Joint ventures Digital television in the United Kingdom