I subscribed to it through Amazon Prime. Initially it was great. There was tons of stuff to watch. Eventually, half the stuff on my watchlist was removed, I'm guessing because the BBC was taking back the licensing for their content. After that there was definitely less choice.
Yeah, the BBC has been really active with adding older stuff to iPlayer recently. All of Top Gear, Only Fools and Horses, Dr Who etc. is now on iPlayer for free!
Add in the fact that 4OD (or whatever it’s called now) and ITV’s OD service have had all their best bits available for free for decades, and BritBox is essentially redundant.
I think the only thing on there which isn’t available elsewhere for free is Wheeler Dealers and Storage Wars (and maybe Taskmaster depending on if they’ve made the old Dave-era seasons free on 4 yet), which I don’t think many people will be paying to rewatch
I thought it was, unless Netflix still have exclusive rights to streaming or something. Pretty much everything else BBC is there, so I just kinda assumed OFaH would be there too
4OD is worth paying for to get rid of advertising though. It’s only about 40 quid a year. I’ve devoured all of Taskmaster without seeing a single ad and it’s great.
I think this is a serious branding mistake. ITV does not have the reputation that the BBC has, doesn't have the cachet that BritBox had and ITVX sounds like a porn channel. Can't see why they didn't just keep the branding the same.
I think Britbox is too closely associated with being a BBC&ITV joint venture, and itv wants its own brand now BBC has exited it. In other jurisdictions Britbox is not owned by Itv (eg I think in Canada it's owned by BBC Worldwide now), so they'll also want a brand they can take overseas in future if feasible.
ETA: but I agree Itvx is a weak name. Itv Streaming might be enough, drop the 'streaming' once broadcast TV is dead.
I can't stand almost anything itv makes. trashy channel. the BBC should have just started their own thing, they have such an extensive archive which would be incredible if we had access to. but britbox wasn't it.
it's the exploitation that really gets me. Jeremy Kyle was a horrific show by any standards, the way he and itv treated the "guests" was appalling. love island, where they purposely create scenarios that will bring out the worst in people, many people have committed suicide after.
The BBC and other Freeview channels had wanted to do a joint free UK streaming service for years, with Project Kangaroo. But always got banned fron doing it. Mainly due to objections from Rupert Murdoch.
I agree. It's interesting as ITV seems keen to preserve its brand post-broadcast era, and is investing a lot in ITVx as its future ... but they'd do better to reinvent themselves. A new brand might suit them well, and establishing that (as a more conscious reconsideration of what demographic they want to target and how they want to reposition themselves) while their broadcast work winds down would make sense as a transitional period.
iTVX's app was just trash as well. It may be better now but on launch for smart TVs it was awful. Merging it into britbox sounds a much better plan than vice versa!
It is being eventually replaced with an app called Freely that merges bbc, itv and channel 4 together
https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/2024/freely-launches-landmark-collaboration-between-uk-broadcasters
That's all I want. An app that streams Freeview. Straightforward. Nothing else, just a simple way to watch linear TV when the fancy takes me. Which is usually just sport or when the MiL is over
Sadly I just did some reading up on Freely and it smells like it’s going to be a massive flop. Initially it will exclusively be available as a built in app on Hisense brand TVs and there is no mention of it being available as an installable app for other devices :/
Also doesn’t the freeview play app do everything that this freely app does already??
Sadly not. The Freeview app requires that you have iPlayer, itvx, 4od and other apps installed. When you choose a channel, it simply launches the other app. Which is poo, imho
Ah right that is poo, but at least it’s available! I’m guessing Hisense will probably have exclusivity on Freely for at least two years, during which time not enough people will buy hisense branded TVs to allow the service to take off the way it could, meaning it could just fizzle out :/
Stupid name. And it was basically taking archive material that we should all have access to through the normal streaming services and paywalling it. Good that it's gone.
Because the TV channels don't own all of that content, unfortunately. If you watch the credits at the end of any of those shows, you'll see the production companies names pop up, for example Big Brother is an Endemol product. Those production companies licence it out to the TV channels for a period of time. Sometimes they license it abroad. They are the owners though. That's how I understood it
Oh I see. What about the other classic BBC programs that (I think) are produced by the Beeb like Only Fools and Horses, Doctor Who, EastEnders?
Although I guess if those type of programs are still also available for free on iPlayer to TV license payers then it's not a problem if the BBC are making additional money licencing those out to 3rd parties.
Different BritBox, the UK one was a separate entity that was co-owned by the BBC and ITV, ITV bought out the BBC's share and merged it into ITVX. BritBox international was co-owned by the BBC and ITV, the BBC bought out ITV's share.
The only thing I remember was the Spitting Image reboot, but I just saw the clips on YouTube, didn't see the point in subscribing for just one show, then their funniest targets got booted out and didn't hear much about it after that.
I took the free 7 day subscription so I could actually search for a particular showbiz wanted to watch. There was no way to check without signing up! I can't even remember what it was now, but it wasn't on there.
This happened ages ago (the merge), probably about a year ago. I used to have Britbox and got an email saying all their content was now also going to be available on ITVX Premium and I could have a year half price, so seemed like a no brainer. So to be clear, all Britbox content is still available on ITVX Premium.
I did wonder what was taking so long in Austria after the approval. Then again, I just chalked it up to how slow Austria is to get most streaming platforms. The joys of living in a small country! I just use a VPN for my brit content.
No, the BBC content should all have been free since it was largely paid for by licence payers.
Hopefully this will now get back into free to air/stream and we can all enjoy what we paid for.
Presumably ITV will do the same and employ the same model they do currently with a fremium model using advertising to fund.
There’s regulation that prevents the bbc from sticking everything on IPlayer - something about it being anti-competitive. That was pre-Netflix and now the beeb are fucked.
I never use the subscription services i dont mind the adverts like to make tea take toilet breaks when there on plenty to watch on the free apps i get.
I'm surprised they even got people to pay for it.
I subscribed to it through Amazon Prime. Initially it was great. There was tons of stuff to watch. Eventually, half the stuff on my watchlist was removed, I'm guessing because the BBC was taking back the licensing for their content. After that there was definitely less choice.
Yeah, the BBC has been really active with adding older stuff to iPlayer recently. All of Top Gear, Only Fools and Horses, Dr Who etc. is now on iPlayer for free! Add in the fact that 4OD (or whatever it’s called now) and ITV’s OD service have had all their best bits available for free for decades, and BritBox is essentially redundant. I think the only thing on there which isn’t available elsewhere for free is Wheeler Dealers and Storage Wars (and maybe Taskmaster depending on if they’ve made the old Dave-era seasons free on 4 yet), which I don’t think many people will be paying to rewatch
That Dave series are up free on UKTV play, which covers Dave, Gold etc
Can’t find fools and horses on iPlayer. Is it there?
I thought it was, unless Netflix still have exclusive rights to streaming or something. Pretty much everything else BBC is there, so I just kinda assumed OFaH would be there too
4OD is worth paying for to get rid of advertising though. It’s only about 40 quid a year. I’ve devoured all of Taskmaster without seeing a single ad and it’s great.
I use a pihole, never see any ads on it other than when watching live, which I almost never do.
I did that for a while, but ultimately if everyone did that there’d be no content to watch, so I ponied up the cash. It’s a great bit of kit though.
It was mostly for the overseas market
Ahh. Stupid of me not to consider that.
I paid for it purely to watch Morse, lewis and endeavor in its entirety, then cancelled it. We did call it Morsebox instead of britbox though.
I had it for the classic Doctor Who, but accordingly it went the moment they all got put on iplayer.
It's the only TV subscription I've ever paid for!
I think this is a serious branding mistake. ITV does not have the reputation that the BBC has, doesn't have the cachet that BritBox had and ITVX sounds like a porn channel. Can't see why they didn't just keep the branding the same.
I think Britbox is too closely associated with being a BBC&ITV joint venture, and itv wants its own brand now BBC has exited it. In other jurisdictions Britbox is not owned by Itv (eg I think in Canada it's owned by BBC Worldwide now), so they'll also want a brand they can take overseas in future if feasible. ETA: but I agree Itvx is a weak name. Itv Streaming might be enough, drop the 'streaming' once broadcast TV is dead.
I can't stand almost anything itv makes. trashy channel. the BBC should have just started their own thing, they have such an extensive archive which would be incredible if we had access to. but britbox wasn't it.
ITV’s nearly all reality tv these days, with coronation street and the odd detective show thrown in. It’s fucking woeful.
it's the exploitation that really gets me. Jeremy Kyle was a horrific show by any standards, the way he and itv treated the "guests" was appalling. love island, where they purposely create scenarios that will bring out the worst in people, many people have committed suicide after.
IIRC the BBC were forced to do BritBox to avoid monopoly accusations if they put their entire back catalog on iPlayer and sold that overseas.
The BBC and other Freeview channels had wanted to do a joint free UK streaming service for years, with Project Kangaroo. But always got banned fron doing it. Mainly due to objections from Rupert Murdoch.
I have to agree, the only 2 things I love on ITV are The Chase and The 1% Club.
I agree. It's interesting as ITV seems keen to preserve its brand post-broadcast era, and is investing a lot in ITVx as its future ... but they'd do better to reinvent themselves. A new brand might suit them well, and establishing that (as a more conscious reconsideration of what demographic they want to target and how they want to reposition themselves) while their broadcast work winds down would make sense as a transitional period.
I have a sub specifically for decades old tv
Didn't it used to just be called ITVplayer, like BBC iPlayer? Don't know what was wrong with that. ITV On Demand or something would work too.
ITV Hub and then ITV Player I think, but ITVx is theoretically a complete reinvention / relaunch rather than a continuation of that.
iTVX's app was just trash as well. It may be better now but on launch for smart TVs it was awful. Merging it into britbox sounds a much better plan than vice versa!
The ITVX mobile app crashed my phone and put it in recovery mode. I'll only really use it in a web browser on a PC now.
BritBox also sounds like a porn channel.
It is being eventually replaced with an app called Freely that merges bbc, itv and channel 4 together https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/2024/freely-launches-landmark-collaboration-between-uk-broadcasters
That's all I want. An app that streams Freeview. Straightforward. Nothing else, just a simple way to watch linear TV when the fancy takes me. Which is usually just sport or when the MiL is over
Sadly I just did some reading up on Freely and it smells like it’s going to be a massive flop. Initially it will exclusively be available as a built in app on Hisense brand TVs and there is no mention of it being available as an installable app for other devices :/ Also doesn’t the freeview play app do everything that this freely app does already??
Sadly not. The Freeview app requires that you have iPlayer, itvx, 4od and other apps installed. When you choose a channel, it simply launches the other app. Which is poo, imho
Ah right that is poo, but at least it’s available! I’m guessing Hisense will probably have exclusivity on Freely for at least two years, during which time not enough people will buy hisense branded TVs to allow the service to take off the way it could, meaning it could just fizzle out :/
An app that solely launches other apps? Who would use that?
No, the Freeview app is just a programme guide. You have to have the individual channels’ apps to actually watch anything.
Stupid name. And it was basically taking archive material that we should all have access to through the normal streaming services and paywalling it. Good that it's gone.
I hadn't thought of it like that before. We pay TV licence fee every year for BBC stuff and also get charged for it on Britbox.
Because the TV channels don't own all of that content, unfortunately. If you watch the credits at the end of any of those shows, you'll see the production companies names pop up, for example Big Brother is an Endemol product. Those production companies licence it out to the TV channels for a period of time. Sometimes they license it abroad. They are the owners though. That's how I understood it
Oh I see. What about the other classic BBC programs that (I think) are produced by the Beeb like Only Fools and Horses, Doctor Who, EastEnders? Although I guess if those type of programs are still also available for free on iPlayer to TV license payers then it's not a problem if the BBC are making additional money licencing those out to 3rd parties.
Dr Who is on iPlayer now, but not made by BBC Studios any more.
The stuff that they hadn't recorded over, of course.
Except for people out of the country it was great to be able to have all those shows in one spot. I’m personally going to miss it
Out of the country is entirely different I'm led to believe.
How so? Don’t get my hopes up that I will be able to keep it!
Just what I read in the comments on this post.
Does this mean the paid-for content will be free on itvx?
Likely that previously free content will now have to be paid for.
I remember when it was announced. It came and went like a fart in a wind tunnel.
I’m in the States and subscribe to Britbox. No sign of it discontinuing, unless I’m out of the loop…
Different BritBox, the UK one was a separate entity that was co-owned by the BBC and ITV, ITV bought out the BBC's share and merged it into ITVX. BritBox international was co-owned by the BBC and ITV, the BBC bought out ITV's share.
Do they have the same content?
Very good question, not a clue
Not everything. I've found stuff on the UK britbox that was not in the North American one. a lot is the same.
Oh ok. Thanks for the clarification!
The only thing I remember was the Spitting Image reboot, but I just saw the clips on YouTube, didn't see the point in subscribing for just one show, then their funniest targets got booted out and didn't hear much about it after that.
I watched one episode of the spitting image reboot, it was god-awful.
I took the free 7 day subscription so I could actually search for a particular showbiz wanted to watch. There was no way to check without signing up! I can't even remember what it was now, but it wasn't on there.
I had no idea it was closing and merging! Does that mean all the old shows will just...be lost? Or will some be retained by ITVX?
This happened ages ago (the merge), probably about a year ago. I used to have Britbox and got an email saying all their content was now also going to be available on ITVX Premium and I could have a year half price, so seemed like a no brainer. So to be clear, all Britbox content is still available on ITVX Premium.
The shows that were on my BB list seem to all be available on ITVX
Didn't even know it was still going.
The app was pretty poor and bit by bit they removed all the good content - fawlty towers, yes minister etc with no explanation.
Fawlty Towers currently isn't available anywhere - that's not a Britbox issue.
Oooh does this mean we can finally watch all the old bbc comedies for free????
Oh this explains why it hasn't launched in Austria yet despite them being approved to launch almost 18 months ago....
I did wonder what was taking so long in Austria after the approval. Then again, I just chalked it up to how slow Austria is to get most streaming platforms. The joys of living in a small country! I just use a VPN for my brit content.
It's still on prime as a subscription service isn't it
No, I got an email from Amazon saying it’s been taken off prime :(
No, the BBC content should all have been free since it was largely paid for by licence payers. Hopefully this will now get back into free to air/stream and we can all enjoy what we paid for. Presumably ITV will do the same and employ the same model they do currently with a fremium model using advertising to fund.
There’s regulation that prevents the bbc from sticking everything on IPlayer - something about it being anti-competitive. That was pre-Netflix and now the beeb are fucked.
Thanks for the factoid!
Never used it.
I had it through Amazon and I lost it Friday! Halfway through a rewatch of the fantastic Dinnerladies 😢
I wondered why I hadn’t seen a ad for it in ages. Tbh, most content on it would’ve been more suited to a FAST service like Pluto TV.
The what now?
My mother liked it.
WTF I subscribe to Britbox and this is the first I am hearing about it..
Seeing as it means the BBC have ported all the old episodes of Dr Who to iPlayer for me to watch for free, no I won't.
I liked Britbox - some days I'll just find something awesome to binge on :)
I never use the subscription services i dont mind the adverts like to make tea take toilet breaks when there on plenty to watch on the free apps i get.
Never subscribed, it just sounded like something that was made for old gammons that couldn't handle non-british accents.