Is Britbox any good ?

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone signed up and used BRITBOX ? And is it any good ?

My son has been trying to persuade me to sign up or at least try it out with a free trial first, 

Not sure if it is worth the money and his only interest is to watch all the classic Doctor who's !!!!!

My only gripe is paying for BBC content that I have already payed for via the tv license but maybe that's just me.

Just interested on peoples opinion and if its worth bothering with.

[Duncaw67]

Hi

I would not pay to watch repeats, because as you have stated you are already paying a licence to watch repeated programs.

All depends on how old your son is,as £6 a month would be better spent on Disney+ in my opinion, much wider selection of movies and original material 

[Anonymous User]

Hi @Duncaw67 

Thank you for your reply, Yes I agree with you regarding paying again for repeats, I meant to say grandson he is 12 years old, So thank you for your recommendation for Disney+ I will look into that 🙂

Cheryl

[RoyB]

@Anonymous User 

Yes, it’s paying again for what we have already paid for that sticks in most people’s’ craw. Fortunately, our industry connections got us a 6 months free trial.

We watched the White House Farm Murders on it, and thought the colour and contrast bad; but then we watched Wolf Hall, which would would have had to pay to watch anywhere else anyway (except that the BBC showed it again the week after, so we would have been well pleased, not, if we had paid for it specially) and it was of impeccable quality. So the poor WHF does not seem to be Britbox’s fault.

But if I had to start picking and choosing what I did and didn’t subscribe to, Britbox would be a long way down the list.

[Anonymous User]

@RoyB 

Thank you Roy for your opinion, I agree also that its a gripe to be paying for old repeated programmers that we have already paid for over many years via the tv license.

On a separate  note I believe the tv license has become outdated due to the way we all watch tv today and was designed in a different time when we all watched tv differently, The model is changing and moving fast towards a world of just streaming which we are already paying for separately for each service, So I believe a subscription service should be looked into by the BBC as a way to move forward with the times.

With respect I understand that not everyone has this same opinion as myself.

On a plus its good that you have been able to have a long free trial and can watch and enjoy programmers that are unavailable elsewhere.

[Saint1976]

@Anonymous User the problem with BritBox is it's success and how it uses that success going forward.

It was originally designed to supplement BBC America and give Americans/Canadians an iPlayer like catch up service but obviously at a revenue generating price!

They've never revealed exact numbers but it's believed to have over 1 million subscribers in America and that's helped give the BBC and ITV a bargaining chip with other platforms. Rumours are that they will be removing content from Netflix as licenses expire and have commissioned their own shows that will only be available on BritBox! The only good thing is BBC have confirmed their own content will remain exclusively on iPlayer for 12 months before moving over.

It's just further fragmentation of streaming services. How many subscriptions can people afford and how many accounts can you share?

Personally, I'd get the grandson washing the car and doing chores in return for the dvd box sets of the classic doctor who's 😉

[Anonymous User]

@Saint1976 

Hi Saint, I'm not surprised that BRITBOX is popular in America and Canada as it gives them access to our Great British programmers and shows, And as for America they do not have the added expense of a tv license, Not sure about Canada though.

I agree that its a positive that the BBC content will remain on iPlayer for a year before moving over.

As for my grandson when he is able to come and stay during the summer holidays I will most probably melt and give in to him and sign up for the free trial only, He is obsessed with anything regarding time travel and has watched all the second generation of Doctor Who's over and over  🙂

Cheryl

[noeyedeer]

Every time i've looked, it hasn't let me see what shows are on it without signing up. Probably not a good sign. From what i have seen, it looks pretty pointless for someone like me. I have most of the obvious shows on dvd, or on hard drives recorded off the tv, anyway.

I would consider subscribing if they had a whole load of harder to find stuff on there, such as the generation game, big break, rentaghost, fantasy football, baddiel and skinner, saint and greavsie, the jonathon ross show (bbc before he moved to itv and it got pretty boring), graham norton (channel 4, before he moved to bbc and it got pretty boring) and really old black and white archive stuff. Even if it was just a small selection of "best shows" of everything. but from what i gather it only really has the most obvious shows on it. Stuff that's repeated to death already and cheap as chips on dvd.