New BritBox Streaming Service Has Launched In The UK

New streaming service BritBox has launched in the UK today (Thursday).

It was originally announced as a collaboration between BBC and ITV, with Channel 4 and Channel 5 subsequently getting on board with the platform too.

It means people in the UK will be able to watching shows from all of the nation's major channels in the same place for the first time.

Extras, Love Island, Gavin & Stacey, Top Gear and Broadchurch are among the series available to stream on the platform, which will cost £5.99 a month after a 30-day free trial.

ITV

BritBox will be made available to tens of millions of EE mobile network users as part of a wider deal with BT - who own EE - which will also make BritBox available to customers who subscribe to its TV service.

As well as classic box-sets, Britbox will bring a 'whole slate of original programmes' and will rival the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime and Apple TV+, according to ITV's group director for streaming, Reemah Sakaan.

According to the BBC, she said: "It's got the widest range of UK box sets of any service. Ostensibly the other streamers are US-focused so they make dramas for the US market, whereas BritBox is the faces, people and places that you know."

She added that many British programmes which currently feature on streaming services like Netflix will now shift over to BritBox.

BBC

She said: "For some time we've been bringing our shows back home and now that we've got a destination in BritBox, that's something we'll be doing more actively. We'll still be working in partnership with Netflix and Amazon and all of the other streamers."

The platform could well be a must-have for Doctor Who fans, as 600 episodes broadcast between 1963 and 1989 will be available to stream by Christmas. However, some notable exceptions - such as Killing Eve and Bodyguard - are not on BritBox due to existing deals with other streaming services.

Shows and films from Channel 4 and Film 4 will be available to watch in 2020.

According to The Guardian, Alex Mahon, the chief executive of Channel 4, said: "The opportunity to collaborate as public service broadcasters on BritBox extends our track record of partnership and will ensure there is a compelling single destination for the very best high-quality, homegrown content."

Topics: TV and Film, UK Entertainment

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey