BBC Studios shutters its BritBox video streamer in South Africa after 3 years.

by Thinus Ferreira

The BritBox video streaming service is shutting down in South Africa and exiting in August just three years after it launched in South Africa and forms part of the ongoing trend of global streamer operators closing the taps on their money-guzzling video-on-demand plans for the African continent.

BritBox SA, run by BritBox International as a joint venture between BBC Studios and ITV, launched in South Africa in August 2021 as the fifth territory and only African region it expanded to. 

Earlier this year BBC Studios bought out ITV's share and took over full ownership of BritBox, also shutting down BritBox as a standalone service in the United Kingdom. 

BBC Studios runs the existing portfolio of BBC branded linear TV channels like BBC Brit, BBC Lifestyle, BBC Earth and CBeebies on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service.

In a statement, BritBox SA says "Sadly BritBox will be closing. Subscribers can watch all their favourite shows until August". BritBox joins the list of failed streamer attempts in South Africa like Altech Node, PCCW's OnTAPTV, Cell C's Black, Telkom ONE and Vodacom's Video Play. 

BritBox SA's PR company in South Africa in response to a media query says "BritBox is refocusing on its more established markets and the areas of the business that will have the highest opportunities for growth".

"A large proportion of the content on BritBox has been exclusive to the service in South Africa; however, we expect some of this great British programming will find a new home on other platforms and channels in the territory in the future. There is also a suite of BBC Branded channels on DStv - BBC Earth, BBC Brit, BBC Lifestyle, BBC UKTV, CBeebies and BBC World News".

It's unclear with how many subscribers BritBox exits South Africa and why BBC Studios felt that continuing with the investment into BritBox for the territory wouldn't bear fruit.

A year after BritBox launched in South Africa, Reemah Sakaan, BritBox International CEO, noted that the company was pleased with the performance of BritBox SA, that it had "a really fantastic start" in the country and had "thousands and thousands" of users. 

The shuttering of BritBox SA comes after the abrupt exit of AMC Networks' Acorn TV, another British streaming service, from South Africa in November 2022 after four years.

The shuttering of BritBox SA is part of a larger trend of the ongoing funnel of investment into streaming services in South Africa and across the African continent being markedly decreased.

It follows after a reset and decrease in budgets for content spending for streamers in the United States and with these decisions rippling outwards globally.  

Earlier this year Amazon MGM Studios shocked producers in South Africa and elsewhere on the African continent when all further projects and all TV and film projects already under development for its Amazon Prime Video service were abruptly cancelled. Amazon also retrenched its South African and Nigerian content commissioning teams.

Last year Netflix also said that it's decreasing its investment on content spending for African Originals, while Disney+ - which is only operational in South Africa in sub-Saharan Africa - also saw the culling of already-commissioned and filmed projects for the EMEA region.

MultiChoice's relaunched Showmax streamer as a joint venture with Comcast's NBCUniversal and Sky is the one African streaming service that has upped its capital expenditure and content investment over the past year to try and radically increase subscriber acquisition on the continent.

Paramount Global, which is struggling and under immense financial pressure in the United States, took too long to launch in South Africa and shelved plans to launch Paramount+ as a standalone service in the country. 

Instead, it recently opted to partner with MultiChoice and become just a branded studio tile destination within the relaunched Showmax service. Warner Bros. Discovery is yet to indicate when or whether it still plans to launch its streaming service Max in South Africa.

Showmax, Netflix SA, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and Apple TV+ are the main video streaming services aggressively trying to scoop up subscribers in South Africa. While battling each other, they also contend with smaller services like SABC+, eMedia's eVOD, PCCW Media's VIU, Marquee TV, PrideTV and CineMagic all trying to make inroads into the space.

What there is to binge-watch on BritBox like a new Charles and Diana wedding documentary.

by Thinus Ferreira

When Britbox launches on 6 August in South Africa viewers will be able to watch thousands of hours of classic British TV content, as well as new seasons of shows, exclusive new series, and a new feature-length documentary, Wedding of the Century, with carefully restored HD footage of Prince Charles and Diana's 1981-wedding with new interviews.

Britbox as a subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service will launch on 6 August as the latest international video streaming service to become accessible to local audiences at a cost of R99.99 per month and can be accessed at britbox.com on Android and Apple mobile devices and tablets, FireTV, AppleTV, Samsung Smart TV and LG Smart TV sets.

New content for South African viewers on BritBox will include series like Annika starring Nicola Walker, Deadwater Fell with David Tennant and The Larkins with Bradley Walsh, as well as Michael Apted's multi-award winning documentary series Up, from 1964's Seven Up all the way to the most recent 63 Up.

BritBox will also have the second season of Manhunt with Martin Clunes, Unforgotten season four, Endeavour season eight, Vera season 11, Grantchester season six and The Syndicate season four. 

Classic library series on BritBox will include Blackadder, Absolutely Fabulous, Inspector Morse, Top Gear, Poldark, Fawlty Towers, Keeping Up Appearances and Midsomer Murders.

The 6th season of the police drama series Line of Duty will be on BritBox in which Kelly Macdonald is guest-starring as DCI Joanne Davidson, the senior investigating officer on an unsolved murder whose unconventional conduct raises eyebrows at the AC-12 anti-corruption unit. 

Expect cliffhangers and plot twists as cast regulars Martin Compston, Vicky McClure and Adrian Dunbar return in their quest to bring "bent coppers" to book while fighting their own flaws.

Professor T is an exclusive new drama series on BritBox, with Ben Miller as Professor Jason Tempest, a brilliant but unorthodox criminologist at the University of Cambridge, and Emma Naomi as DI Lisa Donckers, a detective facing an uphill battle to get the eccentric professor's help with a challenging case.

South African BritBox subscribers will also be able to watch Wedding of the Century, a feature-length documentary about Prince Charles and Princess Diana's 1981-wedding, showcasing carefully restored high-definition footage with interviews with key professionals from behind the scenes. 

"We're really excited to be bringing BritBox into South African homes and are confident viewers are going to love our programming, which offers a mixture of brilliant classic and contemporary content, plus the biggest collection of British box sets, all in one place," says Neale Dennett, BritBox International's new markets launch director.

BritBox CEO Reemah Sakaan says "It's quality content that's effortlessly watchable. British TV and film has grown exponentially as a cultural export in recent years, with productions and talent frequently scooping BAFTAs, Emmys and Oscars, and regularly recognized as some of the best in the world for quality and escapism".

"Our TV is no longer niche but has come firmly into the mainstream, plus there's a definite rise in nostalgia viewing, which is finding completely new audiences. It's a rich time to be in British TV."

ALSO READ: British video streaming service BritBox launching in South Africa on 6 August 2021 costing R100 per month.

ALSO READ: Britain's BritBox video streamer to launch in South Africa later in 2021 with content from the BBC and ITV.

British video streaming service BritBox launching in South Africa on 6 August 2021 costing R100 per month.

by Thinus Ferreira

The British video streaming service BritBox, jointly run by ITV and the BBC, announced that it would launch on 6 August in South Africa as the 5th global territory where it will be available at a price of R99.99 per month, including a 7-day free trial.

BritBox that is already available in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, will join South Africa's video streaming wars where MultiChoice's Showmax, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+ are competing with VIU, Vodacom Video Play and TelkomONE, with HBO Max, Disney+, Paramount+, Peacock and Discovery+ still to launch.

Meanwhile eMedia Investments plans to take the wrapping off of its renamed video streaming service eVOD that it will launch on Wednesday night in South Africa, with the SABC that plans to launch its video streaming service modelled on the British iPlayer, before the end of this year.

Then there is also Acorn TV, likely BritBox's biggest competitor and that is already available in South Africa, also offering a 7-day free trial and costing R79 per month for access to its revolving catalogue of British TV content.

Britbox in South Africa will be supported on the web, as well as on all mobile and tablet devices, while Apple TV set-top boxes, Samsung and LG smart TV sets are also included.

Some of the series at the launch of BritBox will include Absolutely Fabulous, Blackadder, Broadchurch, Fawlty Towers, Inspector Morse, Line of Duty, Luther, Manhunt, Mr Bean, Unforgotten, Professor T, The Midwife, The Office, Wedding of the Century, Vera, as well as Young Victoria.

Reemah Sakaan, BritBox International CEO, at the virtual media launch on Tuesday evening, said that when BritBox launches in South Africa on 6 August, it will have "record-levels" of exclusive content, especially since linear pay-TV channels in South Africa have ended.

Reemah Sakaan alluded to the ITV Choice channel from ITV Studios and BBC First from BBC Studios that were terminated on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service and saw the loss of a large chunk of content that led to several complaints from DStv subscribers.

"We chose South Africa as our next priority region because we know there's a massive loyal fanbase for British television and it's growing," she says.

"BritBox is perfectly place to respond to the new shifting patterns of behaviours of the way people want to watch. We see new audiences discovering gems from the past to love and generational audiences finding hot new premieres to stick their teeth into - and that's the beauty of streaming."

"In the past few years, British content has moved firmly into streaming centre-stage while also maintaining its high-quality benchmark in character-driven storytelling. That's why we seized the opportunity to tap into that appetite and created BritBox."

Britbox series will include stars ranging from Idris Alba, Helen Mirren, Judi Densch, Martin Clunes and Dominic West. 

"In a sea of other streamers Britbox does exactly what it says on the tin. We pride ourselves in giving subscribers a highly curated and distinctive offering versus others. It's the largest selection of British box sets all in one place for all to discover, rediscover and to binge and enjoy."

"Due to the recent closure of some linear TV channels in Britbox in South Africa will have record-levels of exclusivity," Reemah Sakaan says.

"Premieres will regularly arrive within hours of their UK transmission, she said "making us the fastest from UK screen to BritBox stream".

"Our research tells us that South African audiences have a really broad variety of tastes. We know for instance that they love British comedies, are passionate about crime series and mad about period drama and who doesn't love a classic Agatha Christie mystery?"

"They're also adventurous and keen to try something new and edgy. So it's all of that finding a sweet spot for South African audiences as we hand-select and carefully programme for each market. We're also really excited as we've been busy commissioning and producing new originals that have been created specifically for BritBox." 

Exec Neale Dennett, BritBox new markets launch director, said that BritBox South Africa will be bringing consumers several latest seasons of ongoing British series.

Customers who sign up for BritBox for a 1-year subscription will get two months added on for free.

ALSO READ: What there is to binge-watch on BritBox like a new Charles and Diana wedding documentary.

ALSO READ: Britain's BritBox video streamer to launch in South Africa later in 2021 with content from the BBC and ITV.