ITV’s Netflix Rival BritBox Launches as Streaming War Heats Up
ITV’s Netflix Rival BritBox Launches as Streaming War Heats Up
(Bloomberg) -- Britain’s largest free-to-air commercial broadcaster ITV Plc launched its new streaming service with the British Broadcasting Corp. in an attempt to win back viewers from digital rivals like Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.
The 5.99 pounds-per-month ($7.70) BritBox offering includes box sets of shows such as “Downton Abbey,” “Only Fools and Horses” and past episodes of hit reality-TV series “Love Island,” ITV said in an emailed statement. The broadcasters are calling it a “best of British” service.
BritBox is intended to help ITV reduce its reliance on volatile advertising income and draw consumers increasingly wanting to watch their content on demand. The launch comes as a streaming war gets under way, with U.S. giants Walt Disney Co., Apple Inc. and AT&T Inc. also seeking to capture viewers’ time and disposable incomes with their own new digital platforms.
Channel 4 will make its content available on BritBox from early 2020 as part of a multiyear deal. The streaming service also has a mobile deal with BT Group Plc’s EE.
To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Mayes in London at jmayes9@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rebecca Penty at rpenty@bloomberg.net, Jennifer Ryan
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