NEW BRITISH STREAMING SERVICE LAUNCHES IN SOUTH AFRICA
The British video streaming service BritBox, jointly run by ITV and the BBC, announced on Tuesday evening during a virtual press event that it will be launching in South Africa on 6 August.
SA is only the 5th global territory - after the US, UK, Canada, and Australia - where it will be available at a price of R99.99 per month, including a 7-day free trial.
BritBox 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. Other international streaming services like HBO Max, Disney+, Paramount+, Peacock and Discovery+ are still to launch locally.
Then there is also Acorn TV, likely BritBox's biggest competitor 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 accessible online, as well as on all mobile and tablet devices, while Apple TV set-top boxes, Samsung and LG smart TV sets are also included.
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.
ITV Choice and BBC First from were recently terminated on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service and saw the loss of a large chunk of British TV content.
"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 placed 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 sink 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."
What to expect?
Britbox series will include stars ranging from Idris Alba, Helen Mirren, Judi Densch, Martin Clunes and Dominic West. Some of the shows 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 Victoria.
"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, BritBox in South Africa will have record-levels of exclusivity," Reemah said during the launch live from New York City.
"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
programmes."
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.
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PEACOCK AND PARAMOUNT+ BOSSES IN TALKS FOR STREAMING TOGETHER
The heads of both Comcast and ViacomCBS have been meeting in recent weeks to discuss a possible streaming partnership, at least internationally, according to persons familiar with the situation.
According to the Wall Street Journal, at a New York meeting around the end of June, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and ViacomCBS Chair Shari Redstone, along with ViacomCBS CEO Robert Bakish, discussed a variety of possible partnership opportunities that would allow the two companies to enter markets outside the United States together.
The talks have come, according to the WDJ, as both Comcast and ViacomCBS are preparing to broaden their international streaming footprints.
In May, ViacomCBS said that Paramount+, which is set to launch next month in Australia, would be available in 45 markets by 2022.
According to Roberts, Comcast is looking at crafting partnerships with local programmers and distributors in overseas markets in an effort to expand Peacock, the service launched by its NBCUniversal division in the United States.
Comcast’s Sky unit in Europe also has a streaming division of its own.
Peacock is a subscription video streaming service from NBCUniversal that gives access to up to 15,000 hours of content including original shows, blockbuster movies, and classic television series.
While some Wall Street analysts said that ViacomCBS and Comcast have been potential merger candidates at some point, according to the Journal, Roberts has been eyeing potential acquisition targets for Comcast — including ViacomCBS. The Journal said that Roberts has told people that he does not feel the need to seek a merger.
The WSJ says both Comcast and ViacomCBS were relative latecomers to the streaming game in relation to their competitors and are trying to make up for lost ground both in the United States and internationally.
Peacock has built up a significant audience for ad-supported programming, but continues to grow its subscription business subtantially, according to sources close to the company. In late April, Comcast said Peacock had 42 million sign-ups.
According to the Journal, less than 10 million people had paid for the service as of late May.
Paramount+ is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 12,000+ TV show episodes including originals Star Trek: Discovery, Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants, and MTV’s Laguna Beach. Meet captivating characters, catch up on your favorite sport, explore new worlds in the growing collection of Paramount+.
The premium version of Peacock is free for Comcast pay-TV and broadband subscribers and is also available to Cox Cable subscribers.
A potential international partnership with ViacomCBS could involve both Peacock and Sky, according to the WSJ report.
ViacomCBS said in May the company has 35.9 to its subscripion-based streaming services — Paramount+, Showtime , and [BET+]. Its ad-supported Pluto TV streaming service has 49.5 million active users monthly with a total streaming revenue that reached $816 million (R11.8 billion) in the third quarter, according to the Journal.
The Journal said that before ViacomCBS launched Paramount+ earlier this year, Comcast proposed the idea of the two companies joining forces on streaming. ViacomCBS was not interested at the time.
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