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The
partners are finalizing a deal to bring "BritBox", a service
already available in North America, to UK audiences. They say it
will offer the biggest collection of British programs available
on any streaming service.
"We have agreed a joint vision for the service and are now
working on a formal agreement. We anticipate that other partners
will be added to BritBox," ITV Chief Executive Carolyn McCall
said on Wednesday.
Other partners, including British broadcasters Channel 4 and 5,
were involved in talks for inclusion in BritBox, and discussions
with regulators were continuing, McCall said. Launch at an
undisclosed price described as competitive is set for the second
half of 2019.
UK broadcasters started working on a joint streaming service a
decade ago, but were stopped by competition regulators.
ITV's investment in the new platform would be up to 25 million
pounds ($33 million) in 2019 and around 40 million pounds in
2020, declining thereafter. The BBC's investment was not
disclosed.
This year alone, Netflix is investing more than $8 billion in
entertainment programming with a global reach.
Shares in ITV, Britain's biggest commercial free-to-air
broadcaster, were down 4.5 percent at 1035 GMT.
"(This) long overdue move is a step in the right direction.
However, it might be a bit late," said independent media analyst
Paolo Pescatore. "The biggest challenge is to get consumers to
part with their hard-earned cash for another service."
McCall said Britbox was a different proposition from Netflix's
international offer, and should be understood more as an add-on
than a potential alternative.
BBC Director General Tony Hall said the offer would include new
commissions and would satisfy appetite for new content, adding
that research showed viewers were willing to add subscriptions
beyond Netflix, Amazon Prime and Sky.
BritBox has over half a million subscribers in the United States
and Canada.
ITV, home of soap opera "Coronation Street" and reality show
"Love Island", announced the tie-up along with 2018 adjusted
earnings down 4 percent to 810 million pounds, slightly ahead of
forecasts by Citi analysts.
On-screen performance was strong, but economic and political
uncertainty in Britain would cause advertising revenue for the
first four months of 2019 to fall by 3-4 percent, it said.
Ad revenue for March, the month in which Britain is due to leave
the European Union, would be down 17 percent, ITV said, better
than the 20 percent drop some analysts had forecast.
Analysts had cautioned that the lack of a political agreement on
Britain's departure from the European Union -- which now looks
increasingly likely to be delayed -- in 30 days time could deter
major brands from big advertising spending.
(Additional reporting and writing by Elisabeth O'Leary; Editing
by Jason Neely, Mark Potter, Georgina Prodhan)
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