BritBox UK will continue to exist as a standalone service despite initial suggestions that it was being wholly subsumed into ITV’s new catch-up and streaming app, ITVX.
First announced in March, ITVX will replace the current ITV Hub catch-up service from December 8th, although some platforms are already seeing the ITV Hub app replaced by the new ITVX one.
Like ITV Hub, the new service will be available for free in return for viewers watching adverts before and during shows and will also offer a paid-for option which removes adverts. ITV Hub customers who pay for the existing ad-free ITV Hub+ service will be automatically migrated to ITVX’s paid-for tier.
When announcing its new service, ITV stated that “BritBox will remain the standalone subscription home of the best of British content including forthcoming originals Why Don’t They Ask Evans? and The Dry, until later this year, when the content on ITV Hub and BritBox come together in what will be the new streaming home of ITV, ITVX.”
This was backed up by comments from the broadcaster’s top managers during a Q&A session in which analysts were told: “If you are a BritBox subscriber, not only do you get BritBox now but you get all of the AVOD tier ad-free as well, plus other content partners. So it’s a really, really good news story for them.”
It was also stated that BritBox would no longer be available outside the ITVX app, except for those subscribing via Amazon’s Prime Channels service.
Asked whether it was the case that viewers “will no longer be able to subscribe to BritBox as a standalone,” ITV CEO Carolyn McCall replied: “That is true. That is right. The only place you will get BritBox is on Amazon because we have an established long-term partnership with Amazon for BritBox. So that’s the only place you will be able to get BritBox”.
However, while subscribers to ITVX’s premium tier will get access to BritBox’s content within the new app, it’s now emerged that the roughly 730,000 existing BritBox subscribers will need to continue using the service’s own app.
Newly published support pages for ITVX state: “You will be able to see all the BritBox content on ITVX if you have an ITVX Premium subscription. You won’t be able to watch that content on ITVX using your BritBox subscription or account details.”
In addition, despite the cost of BritBox and ITVX Premium being the same at £5.99 per month / £59.99 per year, BritBox subscribers won’t automatically be able to watch ITVX ad-free. To do so, they’ll either need to take out a separate subscription or allow their BritBox subscription to lapse and manually switch to an ITVX premium plan.
ITV says those customers who opted for an annual subscription and wish to enjoy the benefits of ITVX Premium can contact BritBox’s customer service team to discuss a pro-rata refund and then sign-up to ITVX Premium.