BBC, ITV and Channel 4 planning Netflix streaming rival

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The main UK broadcasters want to work with programme makers to launch a joint streaming service.

The meteoric rise of Netflix and latterly Amazon Prime Video has clearly got traditional broadcasters a little worried. While BBC iPlayer continues to break records, there's no denying streaming services, and the increasingly big-budget TV shows they commission, are the talk of the office kitchen. So it's no surprise the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and others are looking for new ways to compete.

It looks increasingly likely this will take the shape of a joint streaming service, bringing together the big UK broadcasters and TV companies, such as NBC Universal, who make some of the channels' flagship programmes.

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Last year the BBC director-general, Lord Hall, said he wanted "to reinvent public broadcasting for a new generation", with the ambitious aim to be the number one online TV service. Could a joint streaming service be the answer? We shall see.

Joe Cox
Joe Cox
Content Director

Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff and The Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).