BBC
Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, and U.K. TV giant
ITV
on Tuesday launched subscription
VOD
service
BritBox
in the U.S. with a price tag of $6.99 per month after an introductory free trial period.
The service, also backed by
AMC
Networks, which has a joint venture with BBC Worldwide for cable channel BBC America, promises “the most comprehensive collection of British television, across all genres, available anywhere in the U.S.” with thousands of hours of programming at launch, the majority exclusive.
It features U.S. premieres of new dramas, a “Now” category that serves up British soaps and other programs as soon as 24 hours after their U.K. broadcast and a library of iconic series.
Among the shows offered are
New Blood
from writer Anthony Horowitz,
Tutankhamun
from Guy Burt,
The Moonstone
,
Cold Feet
,
Silent Witness
, the original version of
The Office
,
Absolutely Fabulous
,
Blackadder
with Rowan Atkinson,
Gavin & Stacey
with James
Corden
,
Miss
Marple
starring Joan
Hickson
,
Sherlock Holmes
starring Jeremy Brett, as well as soap operas
EastEnders
and
Emmerdale
.
The service will be available on responsive web,
AppleTV
, iPhone, iPad and Android mobile phones and tablets, with
Roku
and
Chromecast
following shortly after launch.
RLJ
Entertainment’s Acorn TV, focused on British content, costs $4.99 per month and most recently had 430,000 subscribers. British online streaming service Walter Presents, which focuses on
curated
foreign-language drama series and has developed a loyal following amid growing demand for high-end series from around the world, previously also announced that it would be coming to the U.S. this month with a monthly price of $6.99.
Netflix costs $7.99 per month for its basic service, or $9.99 or $11.99 a month for higher-end offers, with Amazon’s video-streaming service in the U.S. independent of the Prime free-shipping program costing $8.99 monthly.
“BBC and ITV are known for a vast array of diverse and award-winning programming that fans in the U.S. love and want to watch,” said
BritBox
president
Soumya
Sriraman
. “Those fans now have a one-of-a-kind
SVOD
service option that offers a single point of access to an extensive collection of outstanding British programming to discover and enjoy.”
Sriraman
, who has more than 20 years’ experience in the entertainment industry, was most recently executive
vp
franchise and digital enterprises at BBC Worldwide North America. Her successor in that role will be announced in the near future.
BritBox
has said it would launch in North America this quarter with expectations that it would also be rolled out in other markets over time.