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BritBox UK Streaming Service Launches for £5.99 per Month
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I had never thought about this - that Netflix started playing in the content creator sandbox and that content creators might get upset about it and start playing in the distribution sandbox. You may be right but I thought it was more along the lines that Netflix demonstrated the market demand for streaming a library of content and content owners (Disney, BBC, etc.) decided to cut out the middle man by creating their own streaming service.
I know it is frustrating and expensive to have so many services but I actually think this is a step toward what many of us have been wanting for the past 10-15 years, the break up of cable company "channel packages" where I have to subscribe to the 125 channel package (including the "Speed Channel", "Golf Channel", "HGTV", and 6 different versions of ESPN) if I want to be able to watch the Discovery Channel.
There's nothing in the T&Cs about a needing a TV License.
This might be a precursor to remove BBC and ITV content from other streaming services (like Netflix and Amazon), much like Disney has just done with their service.
There is a risk of "subscription fatigue" here of course. I'm already have two TV Licences, Netflix, and Amazon.
It's is a place to replace DVD sales, and content older than a year to a subscription service, available ultimately to an international audience.
I would pay a *hell* of a lot more than the equivalent of £6/month for access to this here in Norway!
Back when I cut out all cable/linear TV and went streaming only, regular access to BBC shows were - and still is - the only thing I'm missing.
Back when I cut out all cable/linear TV and went streaming only, regular access to BBC shows were - and still is - the only thing I'm missing.
If the BBC can accept a subscription model for some of its “back catalogue” then there’s no reason why a similar model couldn’t work for its current output. Go entirely subscription-based and remove the unpopular TV licence.
it all ready has, MovieBox HD is what I use, I still have Netflix but most content gone on Disney others another service so just like you pointed out fragmentation so people are not going to pay £30+ a month on top of their TV license broadband phone line rentaland broadband and Netflix going up in price it’s no wonder MovieBox HD is taking over it’s free and has all the content in one place that’s what customers want and until they is a legal alternative it will remain and content producers have only got themselves to blame forrestricting access to it.
Signed up successfully. It gives you 30 day free trial. If you don’t want to continue with it, you can cancel before the 30th day.
Look, we're British. We'll moan about it and then queue in an orderly fashion.
This is a good point. It might have had a pull for me if it did. iPlayer is the gold standard, ITV Hub is passable and All 4 is just pathetic. There must be some cost savings to be had in using the iPlayer functionality and not having to maintain separate apps. Competition is not good in this case.
Just one example: iPlayer - current programme, watch now or from beginning. ITV Hub - the RWC Final was streamed live but you either had to watch from 'now' or wait until 2pm for it to be uploaded in full.
BBC News might be a full-on right-wing fest but the tech arm of the corporation knows what they are doing and what people want.
There's a very big reason it won't work for its current content.
Do you really only want TV shows that will make money? Because that's what'll happen. Whether or not a show gets made will depend entirely on profitability - will it drive subscription revenue.
Profitability's a good metric. But it should by no means be the only one.
I watch the odd show on BBC Four - an arts and culture channel. Some of these shows are actually quite impressively made. I can't for a second believe that BBC Four's viewership would pay for the same quality in a subscription model.
I listen to about 8 BBC podcasts. Would they be supportable entirely through subscription? I donate ~£12 to the Maximum Fun podcast network, and that's just two shows I listen to. The licence fee for *all* BBC services is about the same price.
Believe it or not, I'm *pleased* that through the licence fee, I help fund TV, Radio and Film for members of the British public who are nothing like me. I love that we have Scots and Gaelic channels that can produce good quality programming for those communities which they otherwise couldn't afford for themselves. It's hugely important that someone in China or the middle-east who's risked punishment to access the BBC can click a button and get the BBC's content in Arabic or Mandarin.
Well no... You paid for a service to make and present you programs within that year. Many of the programmes were made a long time ago and likely you were not paying for them then. Ironically the Licence fee should be called a subscription...but of course it's basically a compulsory tax.
Point in case. Every Doctor who before about 2000 I never funded though the licence. should I be allowed access to it forever? Does it instantly become public domain? Or Fawlty Towers,
I am guessing with your indignation you have NEVER bought a DVD / VHS / Digital content of anything ever... because you are basically arguing that if you have seen it once you own it and you should have it for free again.
The content is really pretty good and I am sure they will add more in the future... BUT I do think it should be about £40 a year.
Full List of What's On BritBox - Top 50
Wondering what you can watch on BritBox? Here’s a complete list of all the movies and TV shows that are currently streaming on BritBox. Sort by popularity, release date, Reelgood Score and morereelgood.com
TV Licence is for BBC only, not ITV, C4, C5
The licence fee also covers public services like BBC events and BBC Radio, podcasts etc
When you consider EVERYTHING the BBC provides as part of your fee, it's unbelievable value for money, regarldess of whether you like all their content or not.
Ahahaha, seriously? Clearly haven't watched daytime ITV...
Indeed - the BBC's walked a tightrope ever since commercial broadcasting began. It's expected to produce excellent content and services to justify its mandatory funding. But, it also gets told not to be so good that it leaves no room for commercial innovation. We're in an odd position where the commercial companies have underperformed but somehow that's the BBC's fault.
BBC News needs to really go and sit in a dark room and think about itself for a while. I'm not ready to declare it fundamentally left- or right-wing biased just yet -- but what it's missing is something in common with a lot of journalism today: it's entirely failing to hold anyone to account for what they say.
But that in no way detracts from their funding model, which personally I feel is a vital in order to properly serve the entire nation.
This is an utterly insulting service! We pay the license fee and then the BBC want to charge you extra to stream old content! A pathetic sad money grab from an institution fossil that should be made to go private!
Only if you watch live TV. I'm tempted to ditch the TV license and just watch catch up instead.
A great point about quality programming, completely misunderstood by the sort of gammon who campaign for an end to the licence fee.
Think of some shows that started on BBC Two that would probably never have been commissioned under a for-profit model: Line of Duty, Life on Mars. People look back in hindsight and say they would have made it, but at the beginning they were groundbreaking shows and for-profit attitude doesn't do groundbreaking because it carries risk.
Has paying the licence fee entitled us to free access, on demand, of older content from BBC, ITV and Channel Four in the past?
Can I walk into HMV, pick up a DVD of Planet Earth and walk out without paying, since I've already paid the licence fee?
[EDIT] - The BBC would likely have no qualms about making its entire archive available for free via a streaming service. They've certainly got the technology to do so. Why do you think they haven't? It's because this would be against their charter which prevents services which would be deemed as unfair competition with their commercial rivals. If the BBC did as you suggest, ITV and Channel 4 would be *outraged*.
If you don’t need a TV license to watch this I’ll likely cancel that and subscribe to this instead then. Seems much better value for money.
From the BBC yes, as for the others they are commercial operators so that’s up to them and their business plan and has nothing to do with the publicly funded BBC.
...or listen to the radio. To be honest, ~£6 p/m is about half what the licence fee costs. So I'm happy to keep paying the licence fee and fund everything the BBC provides (radio, orchestras, services in British languages other than English, technology and research, BBC Monitoring, etc). Even if they're not all something I directly use, they're things which I think a nation should have.
Currently a US subscriber of Britbox. If only they would present Countryfile and Match of the Day.
No. Britbox is only showing BBC content once it has already been removed from the free iPlayer. Before Britbox, your access to these shows would either be via paying Netflix (or whoever had purchased the rights from the BBC) or on physical media.
[EDIT] And again, if your response is "why don't they just keep everything on iPlayer forever" - again, that would be deemed as unfair competition which the commercial broadcasters would be angry about. The BBC Charter is available online - it's a long but quite understandable read.
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The one obvious thing BBC does badly is explain how commission and production works.
Just because BBC is at the start or end of the credits, doesn't mean it is a BBC show in perpetuity. It's made and owned by a production company and the length of time the BBC can call it 'their own' varies. Production companies often enable this because having 'BBC' written all over your work is a seal of approval.
This is where the confusion stems from when you encounter the argument that "we paid for it". It's not quite that simple (I do see that *you* understand it - just jumping in on your point).