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BritBox UK Streaming Service Launches for £5.99 per Month
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I’d love to say I‘d agree but then we have programmes such as The Only Way Is Essex... and I’d imagine it’s cheaper to produce content like that compared to quality television shows sometimes.
So have you never paid for a DVD of a BBC or ITV programme?
Using a VPN won’t help, the software looks for the VPN CONNECTIONS AND unless you have UK address and bank details you can’t subscribe anyway.
I'm an American and I love BritBox too! We pay $6.99 USD + local sales tax per month. My local sales tax is 8.25%, so I’m paying $7.57 USD/month. Well worth it since most of these shows I never got to see over here. Absolutely love Last of the Summer Wine and many of the British comedies. But due to the cost I tend to subscribe for a few months and watch the episodes available at that time, but after running out of episodes I drop the subscription for a few months until they post more episodes. They only have the first 7 or 8 years of Last of the Summer Wine, so none of the later years which I got to see on PBS in the USA. Most of the comedies are pretty old, as in decades old, and they have a limited number of series (seasons or years as we we call them here).
Because "everyone" was pirating were they?
I think the UK version of Britbox is doomed because its about 5 years too late. if you want the (in my view dreadfully bland contents) then there are many other legitimate ways to watch them. On television there are ITVs 2, 3 and 4 plus Dave and other UK TV channels and then there are the existing streaming services run by ITV, C4 and of course the BBC iPlayer.
No doubt the plan is to withdraw programmes gradually from other platforms as contracts expire but that pre-supposes BB has a viable life. Once Disney arrives next year I can see people dropping BB for it or never signing up for BB in the first place.
Now I realise that I have minority tastes but I'd love to see BB giving proper deep access to the BBC Archives -ie shows pre 1990 and better still pre 1980 where they survive. Also the BBC has tremendous documentary resources - not just the Natural History stuff. But I suspect that those in charge are so timid or contemptuous of their audience that it would never occur to cater for these tastes. I appreciate it may be more difficult to get clearances for this material but I fear this will be rolled out as an excuse to do nothing.
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Given that this is mostly driven by ITV I really dont follow what you are trying to say - unless its the usual whinge about being "forced" to pay twice. Have you no BBC programmes on DVD? Did you never buy a BBC VHS?
YOU will have to remove ALL TV TUNERS FROM YOUR HOUSE AND THAT HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR YOU TO VIEW LIVE TV and THEN justify it to the licensing authorities else the WILL HOUND YOU .
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Britbox has been available on amazon prime video with $6.99 monthly subscription for years. I assume that they were available to UK amazon prime members as well. The only thing new is the stand-alone subscription available in UK.
No, most people haven’t started stealing everything they want to watch. Most people subscribe to a few services they like and pay for what they want. ymmv
Add space, remove hyphen. Not that difficult surely?!
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As for this truly terrible-named (like something out of the series W1A, which ironically may be available) streaming service, the thought of giving another penny to the BBC (never mind bottom-feeding itv) makes me choke. They’ll only spend it on grossly inflated salaries for various obnoxious talent-free presenters and pundits.
There is no hype on the keyboard when signing up from iOS device, obviously I did it through the website instead.
There is indeed more to Britain than England, however, calling people here British has been for decades a way to erode at our national identity. Let's also not forget that a lot of BBC programming is very English focused and English values, values that don't reflect the beliefs of the rest of the UK. At the very least, by not trying this to the licence fee, the programming can stand on its own merit.
*raises hand* I mean, I'm not homesick for much, just British crime shows, access to great Indian food, and my family.
This is not true, you can have as many televisions with tuners in your house as you please. They have no right of entry and you permitting them entry and/or replying to their letters is a courtesy and not a requirement.
Or you can simply switch from one service to another every month ... none of them require a contract. my prediction is that we will see deep discount on annual subscription not too far in the future. After a decade, we might see the coming back of the bundles, the old cable TV model.
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If you only watch an online service such as Apple TV+, Netflix, etc (but not the BBC iPlayer) and don't watch ANY live TV, you can stop paying your licence fee:
https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one
This means you could swap over to BritBox for your vintage Eastenders / Emerdale fix, so long as you don't mind being a year behind everyone else.
Sorry but you’re defence if a public ally funded organisation with the power to in prison people if they don’t pay is laughable.
I agree if you use there content you can pay, but also when you pay year in year out and they get funding from other sources like the EU then yes they can keep their programmes available to the public. It’s not a free service after all and their charter doesn’t mean much.
Really? I thought it was quite well-reasoned, but still...
Bear in mind that the BBC was founded in an era when being a 'public good' still meant something. The ability to broadcast entertainment, news and education into the nation's homes was seen as a great responsibility. To that end, the BBC was founded on the notion that it should represent the nation - the licence fee is our ownership of the Corporation. As I said, its funding does not come from general taxation, as that is spent at the discretion of government. The BBC is not funded at the discretion of government. It's ours.
No - that's not how it works. I can't choose not to fund schools because I don't use them. I can't choose not to fund the NHS because everyone I know is healthy. I can't not fund the military because I personally don't like wars. I fund the BBC despite it only forming some of my media consumption because I believe it should exist for others - just like schools, armies and hospitals.
Do I listen to BBC Asian Network? No. But do I think there should be a distinctive voice for British Asians? Hell yes. Do I speak Gaelic or Welsh? No - but they're my countrymen and deserve it if they want it.
BBC news services are not allowed to take funding from any source other than the licence fee. Some commercial operations may take funding from the EU, but this is not spent on UK services. Some independent producers who make shows for the BBC may apply for EU and UK grants, but from the BBC's data, "less than 2% of independently-produced programmes on the BBC used such incentives, which accounted for an average of 6% of their programme budgets."
No they can't. As I've said a few times, commercial operators would be up in arms. Don't you remember how annoyed they were when iPlayer launched? Many restrictions on how long content can remain on iPlayer are due to compromises put in place to placate them.
As for the charter not meaning much ... I don't know where to begin. Read it and you'll get a much better understanding of the organisation.
Actually you can chose to not fund the army by not being employed and not paying taxes, and you can chose not to pay for the BBC, so no point discussing the other you as you seem a bit clueless how it works...