Updated, March 8: BritBox has now launched in the US, priced at $7 per month, slightly undercutting Netflix and Hulu (both $8 per month).

About 2,000 hours of programming is available on BritBox today, with more content being added daily, sometimes just 24 hours after the show is broadcast in the UK—pretty important for subscribers who want to keep up with the soaps, or hit shows like Sherlock (but let's not talk about the atrocious ending to the latest season).

More information about BritBox can be found below.

Original story (December 15, 2016)

The commercial arm of the BBC is teaming up with rival UK broadcaster ITV to launch BritBox, a subscription streaming service that will give US anglophiles access to hundreds of British TV shows.

US-based AMC Networks, maker of hit shows like Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead, will own a minority stake in BritBox, but will not have any voting rights.

Pricing for BritBox is yet to be announced but, we're told, it will launch in the first quarter of 2017 on iOS, Android, Roku, AppleTV, and Chromecast, as well as via Web browsers. Other streaming services like Netflix and Hulu typically cost around $8 per month. BBC Worldwide added that while the service will be US-only initially, it has an "ambition" to roll it out to other international markets in the future.

BritBox will be split into two sections: "Now" will show soaps and some series just 24 hours after airing in the UK, while "Classics" will feature catalogue content from both the BBC and ITV stretching back decades. On the Now side, British soaps like EastEnders, Emmerdale, and Holby City will be shown alongside dramas such as Silent Witness, New Blood, and Cold Feet.

Classics include the likes of period dramas like Brideshead Revisited, Pride and Prejudice, and Upstairs Downstairs, while comedy fans can enjoy the class-based capers of Keeping Up Appearances and the mild xenophobia of Fawlty Towers. Further details on shows are promised closer to launch, and those interested can sign up for updates over at britbox.com.

While of no consequence to US folks, that the BBC is partnering with ITV to launch a streaming service is something of a surprise, particularly as the two broadcasters regularly compete for viewers in the prime-time Saturday night slot with shows like Strictly Come Dancing and The X-Factor. Also surprising (and disappointing) is that Channel 4 is not currently part of BritBox.

C4 has numerous comedy classics on its books, including Father Ted, Peep Show, and Smack the Pony, as well as award-winning investigative news programmes such as Dispatches. Channel 5 isn't part of the deal either, but given that its output mostly consists of Celebrity Big Brother and Tattoo Disasters, it won't be missed.

The launch of BritBox follows the shuttering of the global version of iPlayer in May last year. The app allowed users in Western Europe, Australia, and Canada to view BBC programmes, including hit shows like Doctor Who and Sherlock. European users were charged a €5.99 (£4.30) monthly fee, Canadians $6.99 (£3.70), and Australians $7.49 (£3.80).

It also follows the failed launch of "Project Kangaroo" in 2007, a joint venture between ITV, BBC Worldwide, and Channel 4 that was intended to simplify the streaming video market in the UK. The project was scrapped after competition regulators blocked its development, because it was too much of a threat to competition in the then nascent video-on-demand market.

While BBC Worldwide has long been hugely profitable—thanks in part to DVD sales of library content, as well as content licensing—its largest cash cow has been motoring show Top Gear, which at one point was bringing in as much as £50 million a year. Following the firing of host Jeremy Clarkson (and the resignation of co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May), the show has seen a substantial drop in ratings. BritBox may be one way to make up for that loss.

Meanwhile, Clarkson, Hammond, and May launched The Grand Tour, a new motoring show exclusive to Amazon Prime Video. It has reportedly become "the most illegally downloaded programme ever."