• BritBox announces deals with Samsung, YouView and Freeview
  • YouView boss says service will complement platform’s current SVoD offerings
  • ITV and BBC-backed BritBox due to be available in the UK by the end of the year

Britbox 3x2

BritBox: Available in the UK by the end of the year

UK streaming service BritBox has announced distribution deals with Samsung, Freeview and YouView. 

BritBox, which is a subscription service unveiled earlier this year by the BBC and ITV, will host archive and new TV series from the broadcasters along with shows from Viacom-owned Channel 5 and Comedy Central.

A partnership has now been confirmed with Samsung, which will see the BritBox app hosted on Samsung Tizen TVs from launch onwards.

The agreement with Freeview Play will see BritBox rolled out on Freeview Play TVs from manufacturers including Sony, Digihome, JVC, Logik, Luxor, Polaroid, Techwood, Toshiba and more.

And YouView set-top boxes will also host the BritBox app by the end of 2019.

BritBox, which launched in the US in 2017, is due to be available in the UK by the end of the year.

At IBC2019, BritBox president Soumya Sriraman said the aim is “to create a destination that we’ve been successful in creating in the US…we think that ideas travel and people will pay for convenience and the association with quality.”

YouView chief executive Susie Buckridge added: “At a time when the UK produced television is going from strength to strength, BritBox brings a fantastic array of UK television, to compliment the SVOD services already available via YouView, which our users will love.”

Freeview, which is watched in some 18 million homes, is managed by Digital UK Ltd and DTV Services LTD. The companies have four common shareholders - BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Arqiva - and Sky is a shareholder in DTV Services Ltd.

YouView, which launched in 2012, is a joint venture between BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, BT, TalkTalk, and Arqiva.

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