ITV

ITV has spent nearly £200m on a last throw of the dice in the streaming space: but what is ITVX? And where does it leave BritBox?

A joint venture between ITV and the BBC, it originally launched in the US in 2017 as a place for Americans to get their fix of Downton Abbey and Silent Witness. Most disappointingly the service isn’t compatible with older smart TVs, so I don’t see how it can be a hit with people of my generation who like watching things, especially expensive prestige dramas like ITVX’s flagship A Spy Among Friends, on the big telly. Expect to see it become something more of a library than just a catch-up service. Maybe they’re hoping that stretch of time will mean we’ll watch it a second time at broadcast, having forgotten we watched it six months ago. ITVX is the last big gamble from ITV, and when I say big, I mean a staggering £180 million price tag. And where does it leave the BritBox streaming service?