The BBC and ITV are set to take on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video with a new streaming channel that aims to bring back classic shows at the touch of a button.
According to the Sunday Times, the £5 subscription will allow viewers instant access to shows such as Absolutely Fabulous, Fawltry Towers and Midsomer Murders.
It is believed that the two companies have taken inspiration from Britbox, a joint BBC-ITV streaming platform that launched in America two years ago. It currently has more than 400,000 paying subscribers.
Kevin Lygo, ITV’s director of television, said: “It seems mad that we can’t make our archive and the BBC’s archive available to people at the press of a button.”
However, some analysts are skeptical about the launch and the service’s potential to match Netflix, which currently has 10million subscribers in the United Kingdom.
Tom Harrington, of Enders Analysis, said: “Will households with Netflix and Amazon think they really need a third one?”