Can the BBC and ITV Challenge Netflix? (bbc.co.uk) 87
"The BBC, the UK's national broadcaster, and ITV, the biggest private player in the UK market, are in the 'concluding phase of talks' to create a rival to Netflix," writes Slashdot reader AmiMoJo.
The BBC's director general Tony Hall said the aim was to launch the "BritBox" rival to Netflix in the UK the second half of 2019. Neither organisation would say how the services would be priced, but Lord Hall said it would be "competitive". There are reports it could cost £5 a month.
A similar service, also called BritBox, is already available in the US and has amassed 500,000 subscribers.
Their announcement promises "an unrivalled collection of British boxsets and original series, on demand, all in one place." Diginomica writes that "the more cynical among us" might call it "a knee-jerk reaction to Netflix," adding "the BBC has a bad case of Netflix envy."
They ask where this would leave future BBC-Netflix joint productions -- and whether BBC content would be removed from both Netflix and Amazon. But they also believe that if there is a threat to Netflix, it's the upcoming Disney+ streaming service with original Star Wars content scheduled to launch in late 2019.
A similar service, also called BritBox, is already available in the US and has amassed 500,000 subscribers.
Their announcement promises "an unrivalled collection of British boxsets and original series, on demand, all in one place." Diginomica writes that "the more cynical among us" might call it "a knee-jerk reaction to Netflix," adding "the BBC has a bad case of Netflix envy."
They ask where this would leave future BBC-Netflix joint productions -- and whether BBC content would be removed from both Netflix and Amazon. But they also believe that if there is a threat to Netflix, it's the upcoming Disney+ streaming service with original Star Wars content scheduled to launch in late 2019.
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Actually, they can challenge Netflix. Just like I can challenge Hafthor Bjornson [youtube.com] to a deadlift competition.
Sometimes winning is not a realistic proposition. It doesn't necessarily mean it isn't worth competing.
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Well, if it is you vs Mr Bean, my money is on the Bean.
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Who are you and did I steal your wallet?
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I did a bit of research because like you I was annoying at being asked to pay twice.
Apparently it comes down to agreements with other companies. The BBC works with other companies on a lot of productions. Even the licence they have covering all the music they use only covers for broadcast on TV, not for sales on other platforms.
That's also the reason why stuff disappears from iPlayer after only a month. Why not keep it there forever? Well some stuff that is wholly a BBC production is available for longer, b
Re: (Score:1)
You still are.
Re: BBC = Bull$hit Broadcasting Cabal (Score:1)
The BBC isn't government run, and although some might view the funding as akin to a tax, it doesn't come from the Treasury.
more fragmentation.... (Score:1)
Too many streaming services.... way too many.
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And they all keep advertising that tired old slogan, "All in the same place."
You wanna know where you can get it ALL in the same place? Yeah. Very competitive pricing scheme, too.
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Re:more fragmentation.... (Score:4, Funny)
Too many streaming services.... way too many.
But this one will be better because it is run by the government.
Re:more fragmentation.... (Score:4, Insightful)
The BBC isn't run by the government. ITV is an private company.
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I could understand you being confused by an initial h because they're sometimes silent, but come on.
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I blame autocorrect and laziness
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If they have the good shows, this may be the second streaming service I use after Netflix. Not really fragmented, there's Netflix and then there is stuff that's not worth the effort.
Can't see UK public buying this, unless... (Score:2)
With the entire content of BritBox already paid for by the UK public via the licence fee (BBC) and advertising (ITV), it would be bonkers to launch this in the UK, but apparently that's what they're going to do! *No-one* in the UK would subscribe to this because they'd be paying twice over for the content. It's why I never buy any BBC/ITV/Channel 4 programmes from Google Play because I've paid for them already.
However, if BritBox either had a lot of exclusive content (probably have to be exclusive for 6-12
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I assume that Bribox in the UK will focus on programs that were originally shown under a limited license -- the BBC doesn't have a current license to stream the programs through the BBC iPlayer and would have to pay more to make them available.
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It isn't the same either. In the US, we've had a parade of bad 'UK TV' streaming services and channels. BBC America on cable was the worst - known primarily for showing the middle 4 of an 8 show series and non-British shows.
Britbox is the latex on Netflix. There were others. They tend to host one or two shite blockbusters (Downton Effing Abbey and Baking competitions) and very little else of value.
None of them give the 'BBC experience' as is is/was in the UK, with the regular cadence of the 9 o-clock news,
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s/latex/lastest. Knuthian slip - I'm editing a paper in LaTeX in the other window.
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s/lastest/latest?
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Why so verbose?
^lastest^latest
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Lastest : The most last. Lastier than all else. I don't see the problem.
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What makes you think we've (Britons) have "paid for it already"? There's a group of people who don't pay for any TV, and their number are growing - well, not for a licence anyway, which means view/record broadcast TV as it's being broadcast, or use iPlayer. /possible/ some have contributed to some of the content, since they have had a licence at some point, even if they no longer do. That's not to mention that people pay for the same stuff multiple times in many situations - not only 'repeats
Of course, it's
Netflix has no reason to care. (Score:2)
As long as the service is UK-only (which, if I remember this story from when I first heard it days ago, it is), I don't see why Netflix has to even think about this service in any serious light. The only people who can get it are folks who already have access to the content and are only a small part of Netflix's customer footprint.
That is crazy (Score:2)
As long as the service is UK-only
I just assumed it was not UK only, otherwise what is the point?
But even if it were not, from recent years of British TV I seriously have doubts of BBC to produce enough content of value to challenge Netflix in any market. In the heyday of Dr. Who they might have managed but not any longer (I stopped watching Dr. Who a few doctors ago as the quality just went down and down).
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I just assumed it was not UK only, otherwise what is the point?
There is no point. I think the reason this story exists is as form of astroturfing publicity for the new service. It's like how, years ago, every time there was a new high-end smartphone there would coincidentally be a story asking "Is LG/Samsung/HTC's new blah the iPhone Killer?". Just a way to drum up interest in the new offering.
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No point that you can see, perhaps.
We will see, but it made me look since I'm hoping for some better way of getting that content than is available atm...ie, via the licence fee, or the independent catch-up services. I suppose breaking the law is also an option.
Also, I suspect there's a good group of people who are opposed to promoting yet another American giant, and prefer there to be some competition, even in a limited geography.
I can't see it working, unless... (Score:1)
This is not going to work that well, unless, like Netflix, they have exclusivity to NEW content or create their own.
This puts the BBC, at least, in an interesting space. Would they have exclusive content on 'britbox' for UK viewers which wouldn't be released to BBC channels, or iPlayer?
Old content only gets you so far. For instance, Disney with Star Wars - I mean, so what? Everyone has seen them.
But should Disney release exclusive new content, based on the Star Wars universe, that's something worth thinking
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The Pixar and Star War franchises are in the blood-from-a-rock phase. Their current "all new content" catalog gets more and more grim with each spiked creative moment.
A BBC catalogue would make some money, but there's an insufficient volume of titles to compete with Netflix. Amazon competes well with Netflix, although cord cutters sometimes watch the strangest stuff imaginable--- and don't pay for it. Long live Kodi.
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Let's set the context:
1. UK and other English-speaking audiences
2. Rest of the world
3. UK and English-speaking audiences having little interest in BBC and ITV content
The Beeb flatters itself. They repeat excessively. No one wants a box set of Benny Hill. Lots of the content is drivel. Some of it is clearly outstanding, but see the interest levels of 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Look at the content of Amazon and Netflix in terms of breadth and depth. Some actually comes before the advent of television. For the sake of arg
Knee-Jerk? (Score:2)
Awesome! (Score:1)
Awesome! Yet another streaming service which will want to pull in extra customers with exclusive shows. Yet another reason pirating movies and tv shows is here to stay for a good while longer...
Betteridge Was Here (Score:2)
The short answer is no.
The longer answer is of course not.
The needlessly long answer nobody will read is that they can surely make some money, but nobody is going to drop their Netflix sub and pick up BBC. If they keep whole shows around (all seasons of a series, or in UK terms, all series of a show) then they can probably do all right, but they usually don't want to pay enough to do that. Most people seem want to binge-watch now, they don't want to have to pay while waiting for new episodes to come out.
Wha
Success envy (Score:1)
This is just another case of the Brits and the Euros being resentful of any success any American company has in what they view as their private territory. One World is fine for them as long as they are the ones making a profit on it.
Only a truly Britbox would win (Score:2)
No current Doctor Who (Score:2)
They can't expect anyone to pay for second rate product. If they don't carry the current single most famous british product, then they won't get my business.
And I love british TV. Coupling, New Tricks, Sherlock, are all fantastic. (Coupling is Steve Moffat's work pre-Dr. Who, New Tricks is Cold Case with humor)
BBC streaming abroad (Score:3)
I would pay considerably more than "£5 a month" for iPlayer (BBC streaming) outside of the UK.
Dr. Who disappearing? (Score:2)
They don't need to (Score:2)
Netflix has no business model beyond giving their content away at a loss; they'll be gone in 4 years tops.
yes (Score:2)
BBC is on its way to being just as politically correct with bland content as Netflix.
Goodbye, BBC. Hello, BBC Me (Score:1)
Here's the thing, like. Noone watches television any more. [youtu.be]
Brilliant.
Totally.
Yes. Exactly. Yeah.