BritBox execs talk to TVBEurope about todays launch
Jenny Priestley 4 hours ago
BritBox execs talk to TVBEurope about today's launch
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin> BritBox execs talk to TVBEurope about today's launch
https://www.tvbeurope.com/tvbeverywhere/britbox-nowhere-else-will-you-find-as-much-great-british-tv-and-film title=Share via Email class=share-email>
BritBox has officially launched to subscribers today, and has confirmed deals with Channel 4, Samsung, BT and EE.
The British Netflix' has signed a partnership deal with Channel 4 for content from All 4 and Film4. All 4 will launch on the streaming 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.
BT and EE will offer BritBox to customers across their range of services in the coming months while Samsung will be the first connected TV to launch the BritBox app.
BritBox will stream in HD on all platforms and high bitrate full HD on big screens, with adaptive bitrate to reduce buffering and improve the experience on slower broadband connections. Each account can support up to five simultaneous streams. Additional functionality including offline downloads on mobile devices will be added in 2020.
Speaking to journalists on a conference call to mark the launch, Reemah Sakaan, group director ITV SVoD, was asked what success looks like for BritBox. It's probably not wise to be putting out a success criteria yet, she said. But it's fair to say we've got ambitious plans for BritBox, they're really realistic, and we are confident about establishing a really great business. Unlike some of the other streaming ventures, we very much intend for this to be profitable.
The back-end of BritBox has been built by OTT specialist Deltatre whose UX management platform AXIS is powering the user experience. According to Sakaan, BritBox will make sure that its users can find the content they want as easily as possible. There's some really cool stuff that the team has built from a technical point of view. One of the things that we really know is that quite often in streaming services, they are dominated by US shows and US talent and UK audiences can feel a bit lost.
With BritBox, you're immediately in a world populated by people and places that you know, and talent is a really, really important part of that. So we put that really at the heart of our navigation. There's a browse by actor feature, which is a really great visual way of saying, Oh, you know, I love John Simm, what else is he in?' It's very visual pictorially led.
BritBox obviously comes to the market with an extremely strong content offering in terms of shows that British viewers already know and love. At launch it includes full box-sets of Downton Abbey, Broadchurch, Only Fools and Horses, Gavin & Stacey and Love Island. From Boxing Day, all 627 available episodes of classic Doctor Who, originally broadcast between 1963 and 1989, will be available to stream for the first time ever.
According to Paul Moore, group communications and corporate affairs director at ITV, the content available on BritBox will be the differentiator in an increasingly crowded streaming market: The point of BritBox is nowhere else will you find as much great British TV and film, he said. I think that is the differentiator, the sheer scale and quality of what's available on BritBox eclipses the British content available on any other streamer or platform, and I think the consumer will get that.
We start today with a really extensive catalogue, added Sakaan. And we've got a whole range of exclusive shows on BritBox today, shows that you can't find anywhere else. We're also premiering a new series called Lambs of God, which has never been shown in the UK. We also have premiere episodes of Midsomer Murders, which haven't gone out on linear yet, and we're showing them first. There's a real selection of exclusives that you can't get anywhere else from the service already today.
Asked by TVBEurope if there are plans to launch original content for the platform, Sakaan said: We will be commissioning brand new series that will only exist on BritBox. They take slightly longer to make, obviously, and so we are in the throes of developing those and they'll be coming in 2020.
Sakaan also confirmed to TVBEurope that ITV is in talks about launching BritBox in to other international markets. We think BritBox is a great idea. It's really clear what it is and there are some natural next markets that we're having a look at, but it's only at that stage at the moment.
In terms of the future for BritBox, Moore said that as it's currently at day one, they're not willing to make any predictions just yet. We think we can build this venture to scale. What it will look like in a year's time, let alone five years time, I honestly wouldn't want to predict but we will build and shape it depending on what the consumers are telling us.
We've already done amazing deals with people like EE and Samsung. Those are all the building blocks that will enable us to get to scale. But, you know, we don't want to say today what we might look like in a year, let alone two or three years time.
SubscribeFor more stories like this, and to keep up to date with all our market leading news, features and analysis, sign up to our newsletter here.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
18/05/2026
Despite a bumpy start to the year, the provider of event-production support and ...
18/05/2026
Daktronics has partnered with the University of North Carolina to manufacture and install 11 LED displays totaling more than 10,000 square feet and more than 14...
18/05/2026
CBS LA has announced a multi-year partnership with the Los Angeles Rams, covering exclusive local broadcasts of Rams preseason games, weekly year-round programm...
18/05/2026
Skyline Communications has announced an integration between its DataMiner xOps p...
18/05/2026
eCLUTCH, the hybrid esports platform powered by iKOMG, has announced an expansion of its distribution across Europe, MENA, Africa, and Asia, along with new cont...
18/05/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/05/2026
With 22 games this season, the production team looks forward to tweaking and enhancing the coverage
After 8,660 days off the air, the WNBA returned to NBC yest...
18/05/2026
(L-R) Midori Francis and Natalie Erika James attend the Saccharine premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 22, 2026, in ...
18/05/2026
Last night, the Spotify Podcast Awards in Mexico returned to the country's capital. Now in its second year, the evening honors creators whose voices are hel...
18/05/2026
ZEN-Core synth goes mobile
Roland's powerful ZEN-Core software synthesizer has just been introduced to the iPad, offering a convenient entry point into ...
18/05/2026
Versatile new limiter plug-in announced
Based in Sheffield, UK, fedDSP offer a range of plug-ins that span the music production, live sound and high-end med...
18/05/2026
A new use for convolution?
Viiri Audio's debut plug-in aims to do something a little different with convolution processing, allowing users to adjust all...
18/05/2026
Delta Goodrem shines for SBS as more than 3.27 million Australians tune in for E...
18/05/2026
The Australian Defence Force uses L3Harris T4 and T7 robots for explosive ordnan...
18/05/2026
Continued investment across Europe and Germany is expanding local teams and improving access to stock, regional expertise, and specialist broadcast support.
CV...
18/05/2026
18 May 2026
Dubai and New York, May 18, 2026 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a glob...
18/05/2026
Monday 18 May 2026
Sky News offers ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes for just...
18/05/2026
Comscore March 2026 Consumer AI Chatbot Usage Rankings Show Claude Gaining Share OpenAI's ChatGPT maintains lead while Anthropic's Claude continues to c...
17/05/2026
Delta Goodrem's Eurovision Eclipse marks end of a stellar run
17 May, 2026
Media releases
Bulgaria wins Eurovision 2026
Relive every spellbinding mome...
17/05/2026
Back to All News
Oasis Premieres on Netflix June 19
Entertainment
17 May 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Summer, sunshine, the beach, parties. T...
16/05/2026
Helps to deliver a clean, balanced midrange
Developed alongside Newfangled Audio, the latest plug-in in Eventide's software collection has been designed...
16/05/2026
Brings onboard stem rendering to RANE System One
Engine DJ have just released Engine DJ 5.0, a free update for their Engine DJ OS embedded hardware and Engi...
16/05/2026
Boris FX Continuum Pairs AI Precision and Advanced Creative Controls
Jessie Electa Petrov May 16, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic de...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Seattle Sounders FC and Seattle Reign FC, in partnership with RAVE Foundation an...
15/05/2026
Dan Brumm has served as sound designer on Bluey, the Australian children's t...
15/05/2026
The Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) and Shure Incorporated are accepting applications for the 6th annual Mark Brunner Professional Audio Schola...
15/05/2026
Netflix has announced an expanded NFL schedule for 2026 and beyond under a four-year partnership extension with the NFL through the 2029-30 season. Each season,...
15/05/2026
Ateme is supporting TVRI (Televisi Republik Indonesia) with a contribution and d...
15/05/2026
Concacaf has announced the launch of a new website and mobile app built on Deltatre's FORGE platform. Concacaf.com and the mobile app, available on iOS and ...
15/05/2026
Eutelsat has announced the launch of QBC Business Economic Channel by Qatar Media Corporation, broadcasting in 4K/UHD via Eutelsat's 7/8 West video neighbo...
15/05/2026
Major League Soccer has announced four original content series timed to the 2026...
15/05/2026
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has announced it will exhibit and present at InfoComm 2026, taking place June 13-19 at the Las Vegas Convention Cente...
15/05/2026
InfoComm 2026 will take place June 13-19 (exhibits June 17-19) at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The show will include sessions and exhibits covering broadcas...
15/05/2026
Tracy McGrady's Ones Basketball League (OBL) and FuboTV Inc. have announced ...
15/05/2026
Disguise has partnered with Creative Technology (CT) to deliver visual playback ...
15/05/2026
Sony Electronics has announced two new products for professional imaging: the Alpha 7R VI full-frame mirrorless camera and the FE 100-400mm F4.5 GM OSS super-te...
15/05/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
15/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
15/05/2026
For sports organizations, the most valuable assets are often the most sensitive:...
15/05/2026
The NFL's broadcast partners released their 2026 regular season schedules ye...
15/05/2026
Besides drawing on experience with boxing, the production integrates specialty c...
BritBox execs talk to TVBEurope about todays launch
