BritBox claims 1MN+ North America subs and heads down under
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Editor
| 05 March 2020

BritBox goes down underAfter what the ITV/BBC Studios-founded subscription video-on-demand service says is initial success in both North America and the domestic arena, the BritBox streaming service has announced plans to launch in Australia.

BritBox North America launched in March 2017, bringing viewers what the service called the best in British box sets, drama premieres and live events. To date it has surpassed original projections with over one million subscribers. Most importantly from the UK’s leading commercial broadcaster and the commercial arm of the BBC it is proving profitable. In the UK, BritBox launched in November 2019 with the promise of the biggest collection of British box sets available in one place with premium past, present and future British programming.

BritBox Australia is anticipated to launch in Australia later in 2020 with ad-free SVOD content curated especially for the local market. It will be marketed as bringing a collection of ‘beloved’ British content from across the decades, including classic and contemporary box sets from the UK, delivered straight to Australian viewers via a wide range of mobile and connected home devices.

As with the UK set-up, BritBox Australia will be run as a 50/50 joint venture between ITV and BBC Studios, and the service will draw on the experience of the teams and technology that have successfully launched BritBox in North America and the UK while also recruiting a local team, including a country manager, to lead the operations in Australia.

Commenting on the forthcoming launch, Fiona Lang, General Manager for BBC Studios ANZ, said: “There‘s a real opportunity to build on the momentum and brand that has been established in North America and to make BritBox part of BBC Studios’ future strategy in Australia. Complementing our existing partnerships in the region, BritBox will draw on our vast combined catalogue of acclaimed British content and will deliver it directly to Australian audiences via a proven and seamless streaming service.”

Augustus Dulgaro, executive vice president, Asia Pacific sales and distribution, Global Entertainment, ITV Studios, added: “It’s great to have a new route to market in Australia for ITV’s best loved British content. We know the powerful combination of UK producers and distributors that the BritBox brand represents has been a consumer hit elsewhere and we look forward to bringing it to Australian fans in 2020.”

After the launch of BritBox in Australia, BBC Studios and ITV said that they would continue to evaluate opportunities for the roll-out of BritBox in additional territories around the world.