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Can the BBC and ITV Challenge Netflix? (bbc.co.uk)
"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.
Too many streaming services.... way too many.
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 months before airing on the BBC/ITV) or had the entire back catalogue of the BBC/ITV, then I'd be interested in subscribing as a UK user. As it stands, all it is really is a slightly extended version of the free iPlayer/ITV Hub streaming services, but at a fee close to Netflix. A complete non-starter for UK users, that's for sure.
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.
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 about.
It's obviously all about exclusivity and original new content - that's how both Netflix and Prime have managed to have such wide success.
10-years after the fact?
Who are you and did I steal your wallet?
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
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, but particularly on TV hardly anything qualifies.
So we have to pay twice, once for TV/iPlayer limited release and then again if we want to rent it on a streaming service.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Actually, they can challenge Netflix. Just like I can challenge Hafthor Bjornson to a deadlift competition.
Sometimes winning is not a realistic proposition. It doesn't necessarily mean it isn't worth competing.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
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...
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.
What they should do is license their content to Netflix for worldwide distribution, so that they don't have to reinvent the wheel. Lots of people are opposed to paying for multiple subscription services at once, and Netflix is far and away most popular.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
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).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
In the UK, every channel group has its own app/website. Some work on IOS/android, some on FireTV, some are only browser based. The iPlayer is the best, but it is still pretty bad. It fails to have the smoothness of a netflix or amazon prime user interface. If you could have a single platform with all the different providers, which would combine content and catch up TV, this could really have an impact. Anything less will be failure.
Fear is the mind-killer.
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)
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
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.
Well, if it is you vs Mr Bean, my money is on the Bean.
I would pay considerably more than "£5 a month" for iPlayer (BBC streaming) outside of the UK.
No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
Is that the reason that we got a warning yesterday that this would disappear on 30 March?
Netflix has no business model beyond giving their content away at a loss; they'll be gone in 4 years tops.
"Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
BBC is on its way to being just as politically correct with bland content as Netflix.
L'Idiot
Here's the thing, like. Noone watches television any more.
Brilliant.
Totally.
Yes. Exactly. Yeah.