BritBox is a British over-the-top video on demand streaming service founded by BBC Studios[iii] and ITV which operates in eight countries across Australia, Europe, North America, and South Africa.

[24] Such actions are motivated by reports showing younger generations shunning terrestrial TV, and with fears that PSBs[25] have no choice but to adapt in the rapidly changing television market.

The BBC and ITV announced several shows they would be running on BritBox including New Blood, Tutankhamun, The Moonstone, In The Dark, Cold Feet and crime series Silent Witness on US launch.

[32] On 20 September 2019, ITV announced it had reached a deal with ViacomCBS (now Paramount Global) for Channel 5 and Comedy Central UK content.

[35] On 15 October 2019, BBC Studios global distribution president, Paul Dempsey, admitted there were more markets where the UK-skewing service could work.

[citation needed] One day before UK launch, on 6 November 2019, The Guardian reported that Channel 4 was to join BritBox after it signed a 3-year deal to provide 1000+ hours of content from All 4 "with a range of comedy, drama and non-scripted programmes from across the service, including new series, and for the first time to any streamer, an exclusive Film4 curated service featuring iconic British films".

British content from across the past decades, including classic and contemporary box sets from the UK, would be directly available to Australian viewers via a wide range of mobile and connected home devices.

[4] On 27 July 2020, BritBox announced plans to expand the service to 25 more countries across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, South America and Africa.

[39][40] Following the announcement, ITV CEO Carolyn McCall said: "This international expansion plan will firmly establish BritBox as a global premium brand in a rapidly growing sector"[citation needed] and BBC Studios CEO Tim Davie added: "BritBox has very quickly found a place in viewers’ hearts and we know there is further appetite amongst international audiences who love great British content.

"[citation needed] On 21 August 2020, ITV and BBC Studios announced they're set to invest more than A$35 million (€21.2m) into BritBox Australia, which is scheduled to launch in late 2020.

[41][42] In late September 2020, ITV group director, SVOD, Reemah Sakaan addressed the plans to ramp up the service's international presence.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic and frequent national and local lockdowns, in August it was reported BritBox had surpassed 1.2 million subscribers in North America.

The service in the United States and Canada is owned by BritBox LLC,[3] a subsidiary of BBC Studios since its acquisition of ITV's fifty-percent stake in 2024.

[74] In July 2018, The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco made its debut, the first original drama series in which BritBox held a direct production role.

Such collaboration would greatly increase BritBox's catalogue and financial resources when competing with other streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video.

He advised that in early October 2020, BT was launching an offer for its broadband customers to get six months BritBox for free on its YouView box.

are likely not includedCo-produced content with other SVODs.Leased content to other networksContent shared* (to be merged) with ITV Hub up to 30 days after airing (UK)Collaborations are likely not includedBritish TV box sets (otherwise available on All 4) and British films (from Film4) only.Collaborations are likely not includedA collection of twenty-five titles, primarily from the Film4 library, including Trainspotting, Beast, Charlotte Gray and The Hatton Garden Job which will be available on BritBox UK from 17 September.

"[127] BritBox bosses have said a range of older shows, such as the BBC's Till Death Us Do Part and It Ain't Half Hot Mum, as well as ITV's Love Thy Neighbour, will not appear on the service because of content deemed racist or otherwise unacceptable.

[128] Reemah Sakaan, the senior ITV executive responsible for launching the subscription video-on-demand service, said "We also recomply everything that goes on to BritBox [with modern TV viewing standards].

Some individual episodes of the BBC's Only Fools and Horses and a Doctor Who serial from the original run (The Talons of Weng-Chiang, 1977) are also deemed problematic.

This deal applies worldwide except in the UK, Ireland and Greater China, meaning such series may be unavailable on BritBox platforms outside the United Kingdom.

A BBC Studios spokesperson told TBI that the relationship with Discovery is "very significant and important but it is not 100% exclusive on all titles in all regions and is, therefore, able to co-exist alongside regional deals of this type", following BBC Studios' deal to provide factual content to Greek telco OTE's pay-TV service Cosmote TV.

[136] With limitations to its budget and original programming when compared to other SVODs, BritBox faces strong competition in the increasingly crowded streaming market.

Meanwhile, in the UK, TV shows, especially produced by independent production companies (like the BBC show Peaky Blinders) may appear on the UK BritBox, as the BBC or ITV have the domestic broadcasting rights, but may not be available on BritBox elsewhere, due to the independent production companies giving international rights to services like Netflix.

[139] BBC and ITV content currently on other streaming services are likely to be exclusive to BritBox once the other SVOD licences expire, therefore potentially leading to harmony in programming between the platforms.

BritBox UK signed a partnership deal with Channel 4 in 2019, allowing the service to host over a thousand hours of content from All 4 over the next three years.

An exclusive Film4 curated service featuring iconic British films was announced to follow the launch of Channel 4 content on BritBox later in 2020.

[145] On 21 August, BritBox UK confirmed a collection of 25 titles, primarily drawn from the Film4 library, including: Trainspotting, Beast, Charlotte Gray and The Hatton Garden Job which were made available on the service from 17 September 2020.

In April 2024, BritBox ceased streaming in the UK as a standalone app, as well as no longer being featured as part of other services, such as Amazon Prime Video.

[147] On 27 July 2021, the BBC and ITV set 6 August 2021 as the launch date for the platform, with the service priced at R99.99 per month, R999.90 per year, and a 7-day free trial.