The BBC & ITV have announced their joint streaming service BritBox will launch in the fourth quarter of 2019. But what is it, what will be on there, and how much will it cost? We have the lowdown for you.
What Is BritBox?
BritBox is a new streaming service which sees the usually competing UK broadcasters team up to bring some of the nation’s favourite programmes all in one place, along with being the home of the largest collection of British boxsets. In addition to this storehouse, the service is commissioning a broad range of original series made exclusively for BritBox. They say that the brand-new streaming service will be co-branded by ITV and the BBC and “will showcase the depth and breadth of British creativity, on-demand, ad-free and all in one place.”
What Will Be On BritBox?
BritBox will be the place to view shows recently broadcast on ITV and BBC including ‘Love Island’, ‘Famalam’, ‘Cleaning Up’ and ‘Gentleman Jack’ as well as bringing home iconic shows such as ‘Gavin And Stacey’, ‘Victoria’, ‘Happy Valley’, ‘Broadchurch’, ‘Les Miserables‘, ‘The Office’ and ‘Benidorm’ which will be on the service at launch or come onto the service shortly after when licences with other SVODs end.
At launch, ITV and the BBC will open up their archive of owned content to BritBox viewers, with a strong focus on multi-series drama boxsets, making thousands of hours of much-loved British television available. BritBox will curate this unique store of award-winning television to enable viewers to reconnect with favourite shows and to discover classic programmes they missed the first time.
They will then provide a new and regular flow of fresh programmes as soon as they come out of their broadcast and catch-up windows, providing hundreds of hours of new ITV and BBC content every year. Many of these shows will be exclusive to UK viewers through BritBox and the flow of programmes will ensure that the content on BritBox is refreshed every week.
In 2020, the service will commission original content from British production companies specifically created for BritBox. “I am really excited about the new shows it will commission,” commented BBC Director General, Tony Hall. “With a remit to be daring and different, many future classics will be commissioned and live on BritBox for the future. These are exciting times for people who love quality TV. Importantly, these shows will be truly British, showcasing our culture and telling distinctive stories. It’s what makes real British TV so special.”
Hang On… What About iPlayer & ITV Hub?
A fair question… Those services are not going away. In fact, the BBC iPlayer is soon expected to get permission from regulator Ofcom to keep shows on iPlayer for a year as standard. BritBox will pick up shows after they have dropped off those other two catch-up services.
What Will BritBox Cost?
BritBox will be priced at £5.99 per month in HD and across multiple screens and devices, which is less than other streaming services, but still an additional expense. It really will depend on whether you deem the additional cost worthwhile.
So that’s the breakdown of the new service. Whilst you might not feel it necessary at launch, the promise of them developing original series for the platform, might make it another thing you feel you have to pay for if you don’t want to miss out…
You can sign up for more new on the UK launch of BritBox here.