A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
 Logo used (except UK) as of October 2022[update] with old BBC logo | |
| Type of business | Subsidiaries (owned separately in the UK and internationally) |
|---|---|
Type of site | |
| Available in | English |
| Dissolved | 30 April 2024 (United Kingdom) |
| Successor(s) | ITVX (UK) |
| No. of locations | 9 |
| Area served |
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| Founder(s) | |
| Key people |
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| Industry | Entertainment, Internet |
| Products |
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| Services |
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| Parent |
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| Divisions | |
| URL |
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| Registration | Required |
| Users | 2.6 million (July 2022) |
| Launched | 7 March 2017 (United States) |
| Current status | Active |
BritBox is an online digital video subscription service, founded by BBC Studios[iii] and ITV, operating in nine countries across North America, Europe, Australia and South Africa.[3][4][5][6][7] It is focused on British television series and films, mainly featuring current and past series and films supplied from two British terrestrial broadcasters of the BBC and ITV (Channel 4 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 sets available in one place, with additional original programming available from 2020.
BritBox was first launched in the United States on 7 March 2017,[8] followed by a launch in Canada on 14 February 2018.[9][10] A separately managed UK service was launched on 7 November 2019.[11] From 2020, the service has since launched in Australia,[12] South Africa,[7][13] and in the Nordic countries[14] 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, Coronation Street and Emmerdale, 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 classic series on the service. It reported a subscriber base of 250,000 within a year of launching in the US.[15] In 2019, 650,000 subscribers were reported from the North American platform.[16] In early 2020, the number of US and Canadian subscribers surpassed 1 million users,[17] to around 1.2 million by August, and 1.5 million by October,[18] following strong growth in the North American service due to the Cornavirus pandemic.[19][20] On 9 March 2021, it was reported that the UK service had surpassed 500,000 subscribers, meeting BritBox's UK target.[21] 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.[22] By 1 July 2022, it had reached 2.6 million.[1][2]
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, ITV and Channel 4) to create an online video-on-demand 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 Competition Commission.[23]
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 services 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 and this led to the development of the service SeeSaw, 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 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, France Télévisions and M6), and Germany-based Joyn (a joint venture between ProSiebenSat.1 Media and Discovery, Inc.).[24] Such actions are motivated by reports showing younger generations shunning terrestrial TV, and with fears that PSBs[25] 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 also initially in the talks.[26]
BritBox's launch in the United States was officially announced in December 2016, with the launch date to be 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.[27] On 14 February 2018, BritBox launched in Canada.[28]
In February 2019, it was announced that BritBox would be launched in the UK later in the year as a rival to Netflix.[29] 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".[30] In March 2019, Channel 4 confirmed interest in collaborating with the BBC and ITV.[31] McMafia, Last Tango in Halifax, Les Misérables and the sitcom Gavin & Stacey were some of the programmes available on the UK version, at launch.[31]
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.[32]
On 20 September 2019, ITV announced it had reached a deal with ViacomCBS (now Paramount Global) for Channel 5 and Comedy Central UK content.[33] This was followed by an announcement on 27 September that Samsung TVs, Freeview Play and YouView would be the first distribution platforms.[34]
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".[35]
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 "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 curated service featuring iconic British films".[36][37] 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.[37] Channel 4 currently were a silent 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.[38]
On 5 March 2020, the 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.[4]
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.[39][40] 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 that BritBox Australia is on track to launch on time despite the Coronavirus 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.[41][42]
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 Nordic countries. 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.[43]
The service launched in Australia on 23 November 2020, which ITV states is recognised globally as "Doctor Who Day".[6]
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.[7][44]
On 8 March 2021, it was announced that BritBox UK would join Amazon Video Channels in spring 2021 for UK Amazon Prime subscribers,[45] and on 9 March it was announced that the UK service had surpassed 500,000 subscribers.[21]
The launch date for the South African platform was announced on 27 July 2021, and it launched on 6 August 2021.[46][47][13]
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 TV 2 Play subscribers in the Nordic countries of Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway from early 2022.[14] Standalone sign up to BritBox directly is available through BritBox's website in these countries.[48][49] The service launched on 28 April 2022.[50][51]
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;[52] this was followed in 2020 by the news that the service there had surpassed 1 million users.[17] A study commissioned by the UK media regulator Ofcom previously predicted that BritBox could have 2 million UK subscribers by the year 2023, alongside newly launched US-based SVODs Disney+ and Apple TV+. Following the Coronavirus 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."[19][20]
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.[53][18] On 23 October, it was announced Emily Powers would lead the North American service when Soumya Sriraman departs at the end of October.[54][55]
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.[56][57][58]
In July 2021, Diederick Santer was appointed international chief creative officer of BritBox.[59]
BritBox UK and BritBox International split
In March 2022, ITV announced that its new ITVX[60] 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.[61][62] The BBC decided to sell their share in BritBox UK to ITV, but still will remain a content provider to the service.[63]
On 9 February 2024, it was announced that BritBox UK would officially shut down its standalone service on 30 April 2024, with all of its content moving to ITVX.[64]
On 29 February 2024, it was announced that BBC Studios had paid £255 million to acquire ITV's shares in BritBox International, making it a fully owned subsidiary under the BBC Studios Global Media & Streaming Division. ITV, which will continue to fully own BritBox UK, stated that it was leaving the joint venture to focus on the growth of its ITVX service and ITV Studios and that its shareholders were yet to receive sale proceeds through a share buyback scheme set to launch after full-year reports are released on 7 March.[65]
Ownership and areas served
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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 funding between domestic and international services.
The service in the United States and Canada is owned by BritBox LLC,[3] a subsidiary of BBC Studios since its acquisition of ITV's fifty-percent stake in 2024.[66][65] AMC Networks, the BBC's joint partner on the US cable channel BBC America, holds a non-voting minority stake in the service. This stake has been called into question since AMC's purchase of RLJ Entertainment — owner of rival British TV service Acorn TV — in 2018, with it and the company's other streaming services (AMC+, Shudder, Allblk, HIDIVE, and Philo) posing a potential conflict of interest.
The service in the United Kingdom is wholly-owned by ITV.[67] The service was originally a joint venture of the BBC and ITV. Channel Four Television Corporation and Paramount Networks UK & Australia on behalf of Channel 5, offered content for the service in the UK but took no shares in the joint venture operator.[68][69][70] 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.[67]
The service in Australia is operated by the BritBox Australia Partnership, originally owned equally (50%) by both BBC Studios and ITV and currently run solely by BBC Studios. It launched on 23 November 2020.[71]
The service in South Africa was equally owned by BBC Studios and ITV at 50% shares each until February 2024, when ITV's shares were acquired by BBC Studios.[7]
The services in the Nordic countries would be distributed by TV 2 in Norway, and C More in Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Signups to BritBox International directly are available through its website.[49]
| Country | Launch date | Entity | BBC Studios share | ITV share | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 7 March 2017 | BritBox LLC | Majority[a] 100% voting control |
AMC Networks non-voting minority share[a] | |
| Canada | 14 February 2018 | BritBox LLC | 100% | ||
| United Kingdom | 7 November 2019 | BritBox SVOD Ltd | 100% | Between 2019 and 2022, was 10% owned directly by the BBC; became part of ITVX in November 2022 | |
| Australia | 23 November 2020 | The BritBox Australia Partnership | 100% | ||
| South Africa | 6 August 2021 | BritBox International | 100% | ||
| Nordic countries[iv] | 28 April 2022 | BritBox International | 100% | Distribution partnership with C More Entertainment and TV 2 (Norway); non-C More and TV 2 subscribers can sign up for BritBox directly. |
Content
Original programmes
In September 2017, BritBox released a reconstruction of the Doctor Who story The Wheel in Space using the surviving episodes and reconstruction using Tele-snaps.[72] In July 2018, The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco made its debut, the first original drama series in which BritBox held a direct production role.[73]
More original content was set to be commissioned and produced for 2020, following the platform's UK launch, with the BBC stating "The first new show is expected to be commissioned soon and will be available to BritBox viewers from 2020".[74] The goal is to offer exclusive content only available on BritBox, rather than the BBC and ITV's UK VOD services BBC iPlayer and ITV Hub. The annual budget for original programmes was, according to BBC News, to be in the tens of millions of pounds.[75]
ITV pledged to invest up to £65m in the joint venture over the next two years to 2021, and the BBC said its own pledge would be in the "tens of millions".[76]
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.[77] The series, featuring 100 new puppets, debuted on 3 October 2020.[78]
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
| Title | Genre | Premiere | Platform(s) | Series/episodes | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco | Crime mystery | 25 July 2018 | United States debut | 1 series, 8 episodes | Renewed. | Co-production between ITV and BritBox US. BritBox US's first original[79][80] |
| The Pembrokeshire Murders | Crime thriller | 11 January 2021 | Miniseries, 3 episodes | Aired. | Co-production between ITV and BritBox US [81] | |
| Honour | Crime drama | 29 October 2020 | United Kingdom | 1 series, 2 episodes | Co-production between ITV and BritBox US | [82][83] |
| The Mallorca Files | Police procedural/Crime drama | TBA | TBA | TBA | Co-production between ITV and BritBox US and Canada | |
| There She Goes | Comedy drama | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | |
| The Bay | Crime drama | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | |
| The Long Call | Crime drama | 2021 | Co-production between ITV and BritBox US | |||
| A Spy Among Friends | Cold War espionage thriller | 2022 | United Kingdom debut | 1 series, 6 episodes | On production, co-production between ITV Studios and Sony Pictures Television, shared with Spectrum | BritBox's first drama commission in the UK[84] |
| The Beast Must Die | Revenge thriller | 27 May 2021[85] | United Kingdom debut | 1 series, 5 episodes | Co-production between New Regency Television and Scott Free Films | [86] First drama to be shot for BritBox UK. |
| Crime | Crime thriller | 18 November 2021 | United Kingdom exclusive | 1 series, 6 episodes | In production, production from Buccaneer Media, shared rights with Cineflix rights | [87] |
| Magpie Murders | Crime drama/Murder mystery | 2022 | United Kingdom exclusive | Commissioned, production from Eleventh Hour Films, shared with PBS Masterpiece | [88][89] | |
| Sanditon | Historical drama | TBA (Series 1, 2019 on ITV) | United Kingdom exclusive | Series 2-, 2 series (Series 1 for ITV) | Renewed, production from Red Planet Pictures, shared with PBS Masterpiece with BritBox UK as the UK exclusive streamer. | Series 1, as 8 episodes, was initially broadcast on ITV, later series to be broadcast on BritBox UK first.[90] |
| Marlow | Crime thriller | 2022 | United Kingdom exclusive | 1 series, 8 episodes | Commissioned, production from Motive Pictures and Endeavor Content. | [91] |
| Murder in Provence | Crime Drama | 1 March 2022 | All platforms | 1 series, 3 episodes | Aired. | BritBox's first drama commission in the UK and the US.[92] The drama would be BritBox's first original that is available on all of its platforms (a pan-territory original).[93] Production from Monumental Television (ITV Studios)[94] |
| Hotel Portofino | Historical Drama | 27 January 2022 | TBA | 6 episodes | Renewed for Season 2.[95] | Commissioned, co-production between ITV and BetaFilm Group [96] |
| Sister Boniface Mysteries | Crime Drama | 2022 | BritBox/UKTV | 1 series, 10 episodes | Renewed for Season 2.[97] | Spin-off from Father Brown [98] |
| Why Didn't They Ask Evans? | Crime Drama | 2022 | BritBox | Miniseries, 3 episodes | Aired | [99] |
| Beyond Paradise | Crime Drama | TBA | Britbox | TBA | Spin-off of Death in Paradise.[100] |
Comedy
| Title | Genre | Premiere | Platform(s) | Series/episodes | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spitting Image | Adult puppeteering/Political satire/Black comedy | First series: 3 October 2020 Second series: 11 September 2021[101] |
United Kingdom debut | 2 series | Renewed, production from Avalon Television | BritBox UK's "first original commission"[102][103] |
| The Dry | Comedy drama | 2022 | United Kingdom exclusive | 1 series, 8 episodes | In-production, produced by Element Pictures, in association with Fís Eireann/Screen Ireland and ITV Studios, in partnership with RTÉ. | [104] |