BBCS defends Sky box-set deal

The potential reach of Britbox has not been diluted as a result of BBC Studios’ (BBCS) significant box-set deal with Sky, according to the commercial arm.

Earlier this week, BBCS agreed to license hundreds of hours of box sets, including recent drama The Last Post, episodes of Top Gear and Brian Cox’s Wonder series, to the pay-TV platform.

McMafia, the thriller highlighted as one of the key launch titles for Britbox by director general Tony Hall, is also included as part of the Sky deal. The shows will be supplemented with an array of classic comedies including Blackadder, Little Britain and Red Dwarf.

Under the multi-year deal, the shows will be made available on-demand via UKTV channel brands Alibi and Gold from 1 April.

The agreement has been signed just a few weeks after the BBC and ITV unveiled plans to launch Britbox, an SVoD service that will offer subscribers access to their programming after it becomes unavailable via iPlayer and ITV Hub. The service is due to launch in the autumn.

BBCS said that consumer appetite for Britbox will not be diminished as a result of making a host of its shows available for free at the point of access to upwards of 10 million Sky homes.

A spokesman said the volume of content on Britbox, coupled with its original commissioning drive, will ensure it remains a compelling proposition. He added that the Sky deal represents a continuation of an existing relationship.

“The BBC has made programmes from its catalogue available to Sky customers through UKTV for many years.”

Virgin Media is likely to be interested in striking a similar deal with BBCS. Last year, Virgin Media became embroiled in a spat with the commercial arm after it claimed it was unable to negotiate terms to secure the on-demand rights to BBC shows. The ensuing fallout resulted in UKTV pulling its channels from the pay-TV platform for three weeks from mid-July.

It is unclear what impact the box-set deal will have on the negotiations between the PSBs and Sky as they look to secure distribution for Britbox on pay-TV services.

“If Sky already has key content from the BBC, then it changes the dynamic of any future negotiations over distribution of Britbox,” said an industry source.

The BBC’s decision to sell the content appears to be at odds with ITV’s emerging windowing strategy. During February’s annual results, when she unveiled Britbox, chief executive Carolyn McCall said she plans to take a more long-term view when deciding how best to license ITV programming, and pointed to the decision to sell archive series of Love Island to Netflix ahead of the launch of the most recent run.

“That would be unusual in the future,” she added.