BritBox, the U.S. streaming service operated by British commercial broadcaster ITV and BBC Worldwide, has reached 250,000 subscribers just under a year after launch.

The digital platform has posted its first subscriber numbers days after its launch in Canada. It comes as the service doubled the number of hours it offers to subscribers to over 4,600 episodes of British programming. The company plans to increase the amount of original and acquired programming by 50% over the next year.

This comes after it moved into original programming for the first time with a spin-off of The Bletchley Circle. The SVOD service ordered The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco from Line of Duty producer World Productions and Canadian firm Omnifilm Entertainment.

BritBox is taking on the likes of Netflix, Amazon and Hulu as well as UK-focused rival Acorn TV. It recently acquired 300 hours of programming, including Midsomer Murders, from All3Media International. The deal is its latest high-profile agreement and follows its deal with ITV Studios for long-running crime drama Vera.

Elsewhere, the SVOD service’s 2018 slate includes a raft of UK series including Rowan Atkinson-fronted drama Maigret, Trauma, an ITV medical thriller featuring Adrian Lester and John Simm and written by Doctor Foster’s Mike Bartlett, and season two of the BBC’s Big Talk-produced comedy Mum.

It has also added British reality and entertainment stalwarts like Strictly Come Dancing and QI, seasonal comedies for the holidays such as French & Saunders and Upstart Crow, and factual lifestyle strands like Escape to the Country.

Soumya Sriraman, President, BritBox, North America said, “It’s been an incredible year. We have listened to our users, been responsive to their suggestions, and opened up a whole new world of British content for U.S. and Canadian viewers to enjoy. Building on this positive start, next year we plan to invest even more in both original and acquired British programming and make a step change in our marketing investment to spread the BritBox word. I can’t wait to see what year two brings.”