BritBox, the British streaming joint venture launched by ITV and the BBC Studios, will be available in South Africa some time in the second half of 2021, the companies said on Tuesday.

Few details, including pricing and programming, have been made available, but the planned launch is set to up the ante in the streaming market in South Africa, which already includes Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and MultiChoice Group’s Showmax jostling for television viewers’ attention.

South Africa will become the fifth market worldwide to get the BritBox service, which offers classic and current British television series and other content. BritBox is already available in the UK, the US, Canada and Australia.

“The launch of BritBox in South Africa is yet another step in the platform’s trajectory towards international expansion,” said Martin Goswami, group strategic partnership and distribution director at ITV, in a statement. “We’re delighted to bring the service to a brand new territory and continue towards establishing BritBox as a premium video-on-demand brand across the world.”

A notice on the BritBox website allows South African users to sign up for news on the service’s local launch plans. No pricing details are available, however — it costs £5.99/month in the UK (R121 at the time of writing).

Popular shows on BritBox include Inspector Morse, Doctor Who, Black Adder, Fawlty Towers and The Office. Not all shows availabe in other BritBox markets will necessarily be available on the South African version when it launches, it cautioned. — (c) 2021 NewsCentral Media