It’s been reported that the BBC will be joining forces with ITV to launch a British-based streaming TV platform called Britflix.
No. Despite the surprise and somewhat absurdity of both of the above factoids we aren’t joking. Both of our nation’s leading broadcasters, which are usually seen clashing for Saturday night ratings, will be uniting and contributing telly content (with a handful of other companies) to what should become a vast library available through the new streaming service which has the working title Britflix. Imagine being able to watch Corrie, then switch straight to Sherlock on the same streaming platform. Pretty revolutionary, right?
As the name would imply, it’s said the service will follow a similar format to that popularised by Netflix and Amazon Prime and plans to push this forward have just being approved by Culture Secretary John Whittingdale.
Whittingdale was recently in the midst of the controversial decision to make TV licences mandatory to all TV viewers – including those who only stream online content, rather than using a TV aerial or subscription TV service. Driving the Britflix idea seems like another step in the overall game plan as we move into a predominantly digital age of telly – and when eventually launched will be chargeable both on a subscription basis and on a TV license.
Also See: BBC iPlayer Viewers Will No Longer Be Exempt From TV Licence
It’s understood that eventually Britflix will take over from BBC iPlayer, but will allow a longer 30-day period in which to watch recent programming and with the Beeb currently running the BBC Store, which offers purchasable online video, we suspect that would likely be done away with too when the new service goes live.
Source: Telegraph