Yahoo Finance BBC and ITV unveil details of BritBox streaming service that will rival Netflix
The BBC and ITV have unveiled plans to make their Britbox streaming service available to UK viewers for £5.99 per month.
ITV will control the venture, a Netflix-style offering of British box-sets and original series, with a 90pc stake, while the BBC will have an option to increase its holding to 25pc.
The service, which will host recent television shows such as Love Island and Gentleman Jack, is set to launch between October and the end of December.
It will also host older shows such as Gavin & Stacey, The Office and Benidorm. Original content from British production companies is set to appear in 2020.
Dame Carolyn McCall, the chief executive of ITV, called the announcement of BritBox a “milestone moment” for British television.
“ITV and BBC have made, and continue to make, the programmes that both reflect and shape British culture and creativity," she said. "We now look forward to working together to launch the largest collection of British boxsets ever.”
BritBox, which is already available in North America, will be led by Reemah Sakaan, group director at ITV's subscription video on demand division.
The company, which in February announced it was teaming up publicly funded rival BBC for BritBox, also said it was in talks with other content and distribution partners and would pay market rate fees for all content.
BritBox’s debut will come as television networks and media regulator Ofcom grow increasingly concerned about the ability of British television networks to compete with US rivals.
Netflix is expected to spend £11.8bn on original shows this year. ITV, by comparison, has a programming budget of £1.1bn, while the BBC’s entire budget for 2018-19 is an estimated £4bn.
Ofcom announced earlier this month that it would urge the government to pass new laws that require the manufacturers of smart televisions to ensure that content from broadcasters including the BBC and ITV remains easy to find.
