BritBox, the ITV-BBC, streaming venture has gone live in the UK.
The launch has been accompanied by the announcement of a multi-year deal with Channel 4 and Film4. Several thousand hours will be added to the service from 2020.
BritBox will bring All 4 to the service in Spring 2020, with new series being available 31 days following transmission of the last episode on Channel 4. Film4 will follow later in 2020.
Alex Mahon, CEO at Channel 4 said: “Channel 4 has always showcased distinctive and diverse British content and, in a world of almost unlimited choice, our public service brand values are more important than ever for viewers. The opportunity to collaborate as PSBs on BritBox extends our track record of partnership and will ensure there is a compelling single destination for the very best high quality, home-grown content.”
There’s also a partnership with EE which has been announced as EE’s exclusive mobile partner. Details will be released by BT and EE in the next few months, but the implication is that Britbox will be bundled in with subscriptions in some form.
The selling point is box sets. All 627 available episodes of the original Doctor Who series, originally broadcast between 1963 and 1989, will be available to stream for the first time. There are also box-of all six series and specials of Downton Abbey, all three series of Broadchurch, seven series of Only Fools and Horses, three series of Gavin & Stacey and both series of Extras.
Reemah Sakaan, Group Director ITV SVOD commented: “BritBox is all about bringing together the best of British creativity and talent in a new digital world. Today’s launch and announcement of our partnership deals with Channel 4 and BT underline the quality and scale we want the service to embody. It’s wonderful to be bringing such a wealth of brilliant British TV and film to subscribers from today, and I’m looking forward to revealing our exciting, original commissions in the near future.”
Samsung will be the first TV to launch the BritBox app and together, Samsung and BritBox have agreed a co-marketing partnership that will see BritBox featured as a “Recommended App” on Samsung Smart TV’s and joint marketing activity taking place in Q4 as the TV device market heads into its key sales season around Black Friday and Christmas.
Britbox is priced at £5.99 per month in HD.
