British streaming service BritBox comes to SA: launch date & price

BBC and ITV have lifted the lid on the details around the launch of British streaming service BritBox in South Africa, including the launch date, subscription price, and other details.

The streaming company held an event on 27 July to celebrate the launch of the service in South Africa.

South Africa is the fifth launch country for BritBox, following its launches in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia.

According to BritBox International New Markets Launch Director Neale Dennett, South Africa was prioritised due to the local appetite for British content.

“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,” Dennett said.

So what should you know about the service? We’ve rounded up the major details.

When does BritBox launch in South Africa?

BritBox will officially be available in South Africa from Friday, 6 August.

From this date, the service will be available to stream on the web on BritBox.com, as well as its Android and iOS apps.

The service is also available on FireTV, AppleTV, Samsung Smart TV, and LG Smart TV devices.

What is the price of BritBox in South Africa?

BritBox will cost R99.99 per month in South Africa, or R999.99 per year.

Users can also get a seven-day free trial to try out the service. The company notes that the yearly subscription works out to a discount that includes two months of the service for free.

What content will be on the service?

Here's a teaser of what you can expect when @BritBox_ZA launches in South Africa #BritBoxSA pic.twitter.com/zS2E1mz3AV

— memeburn (@memeburn) July 28, 2021

So what about content?

The service includes both BBC and ITV titles, as well as content exclusive to the streaming platform.

The company noted that there will be a record-breaking amount of content available on the service locally.

“BritBox will feature a large collection of favourites from across both broadcaster’s catalogues, so many of the BritBox programmes in South Africa will previously have been available to view on local channels such as BBC Brit, BBC Lifestyle or ITV Choice,” the company says. 

While a full catalogue is not yet available at the time of writing, the service did confirm certain series during the launch event. This includes the latest season of Line of Duty (Season 6), Professor T, Unforgotten Season 4, and Manhunt Season 2.

The service will also include classics and older series. Notably, it will exclusively host the new HD version of the 1995 Pride and Prejudice BBC series featuring Colin Firth.

Feature image: BritBox

Read more: Netflix officially launches mobile plan in South Africa – price and details