There could be changes coming down the line for the UK's version of the BritBox streaming service. Information suggests BritBox will be moving under the umbrella of ITVX - the forthcoming service that replaces ITV Hub - and it will cease to exist as an independent service.
BritBox launched in 2019 as a joint venture between BBC and ITV. Its aim is to provide a home for British content, with some original programming, but dominated by heritage shows. It's related to, but separate from, the US service of the same name.Â
With ITV looking to shake up its online presence and strengthen its offering, the company has bought BBC's 10 per cent stake in BritBox according to Variety. That means that ITV can then move BritBox into ITVX.
Much of the fate of BritBox will likely depend on how ITVX is structured: ITV has already confirmed that there will be two tiers of ITVX, one free and ad supported, and the other that is advert free and asks for a subscription.Â
It's likely that BritBox will continue within ITVX rather than as a separate streaming service. It's also likely that any subscriptions will be handled through ITVX, but it's not clear exactly how this might be structured - and whether there will be free access to BritBox content with adverts.Â
The timeline for the launch of ITVX hasn't been precisely communicated, but it is confirmed to be launching in 2022. ITV is likely to advertise the change widely; as it is, ITV Hub is a fairly poor streaming service at the moment and there's certainly a good opportunity to offer better access to content and to boost the quality of the content offered through ITVX.
In the meantime there's no official changes confirmed, but as the launch of ITVX approaches, it's likely that we'll learn the fate of BritBox going forward.
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