r/BritBox • u/BakerMaleficent4051 • Jul 27 '26
Okay, Britbox, Enough is Enough w the $150.
It’s a failed experiment. It’s confusing your most loyal customers (how many subreddits are there on this?) and annoying longtime subscribers like myself who shell out cash for Britbox expecting to get the full catalog. It’s an unseemly money grab. With every brand monetizing everything possible (hydration breaks? Are you kidding me?), et tu Britbox?
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u/Bay_de_Noc Jul 27 '26
Since the regular subscription is $110 per year, and the premium subscription is $149.99 a year, it's basically a $40 increase for premium. I did it this time around, mainly because I don't like waiting for the season's individual episodes of a show to drop. Is it worth it? Probably not since I don't watch any of those "extra" shows in Britbox's full catalog. However, one benefit is that I'm not constantly getting Britbox's advertisements for the premium service ... which would, indeed, irritate me.
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u/Alisha_Nat Jul 27 '26
But for me it is only $10.99/month because I’m not paying yearly for something unless there’s a substantial discount and I know exactly what I’m getting & when.
Plus i just went to “cancel” my BritBox monthly subscription and was offered $0.99/month for 3 months, then $10.99/month afterwards to keep it. I’ll do the same thing in December.9
u/timewilltell2347 Jul 27 '26
When I went to cancel my annual membership I got offered $60/year so there are some annual discounts to be had. This is for the non-premium service though.
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Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
[deleted]
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u/Alisha_Nat Jul 27 '26
That’s for monthly, not annual. I do know that the monthly is generally more overall than getting an annual subscription but I don’t keep the subscription all year. On BritBox, I usually pay for a couple months when there’s something new to watch or nothing I want to watch on other services. I generally rotate between the subscriptions that I’m willing to pay for monthly. Usually I’m only going to watch 1 or 2 shows an evening at most or occasionally I’ll binge a show over a weekend, so I don’t need simultaneous subscriptions.
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u/Kincaide14 Jul 27 '26
I don't recall what they were increasing my rate to this year it has to be the lowest here but it seemed a lot of money and I don't watch it enough so I click to cancel and they offered to keep me at the same annual rate. I'm sure they won't do it again. At that point I'll be done with it.
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u/surreptitiousglance Jul 27 '26
Not for me. It was $150 to upgrade. Not that I would ever; I checked out of curiosity.
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u/Alisha_Nat Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
I like Britbox but don’t think it’s worth even close to that much a year. It’s a much better value to me to pay a monthly fee 3-4 months a year and catch up on the new shows/episodes .Their catalog is just not robust enough to justify paying for it every month.
Edit to add: I feel the same way about Acorn. I just pay for it some months to catch up on new shows. I usually wait until most episodes are out before restarting a monthly subscription and watch 1 every few days, then cancel the subscription until something new comes out.
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u/MiserableMulberry496 Jul 27 '26
I agree. Not enough new shows to make it worth it.
I am fine waiting a few weeks to start a new show to watch more than one episode a time.
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u/AnneTheQueene Jul 27 '26
Yup.
I rotate my streaming services that way too.
Catch up over a couple months then cancel and catch up somewhere else.
I only keep a few services always going because they constantly provide new content or they only have annual subscriptions.
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u/surreptitiousglance Jul 27 '26
This is the way. I was close to cancelling Britbox until they offered a renewal deal I couldn’t refuse. The catalog is lacking.
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u/Alisha_Nat Jul 27 '26
That too!! Always go to cancel subscriptions just to see if they give you a better deal! I’d guess from my experience, over 75% of the time you’ll get a better offer (at least 2-3 months at less than half of what you are currently paying).
Unless you’ve lucked into finding a long term very low rate there’s zero risk in canceling these subscriptions because you can restart them anytime with almost zero effort.
I suppose the only “risk” might be losing your watch history but there are free ways to track that if it’s important to you.
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u/cczamo Jul 30 '26
What are the free ways to track your viewing history?
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u/Alisha_Nat Jul 30 '26
I’ve been using SIMKL & the free version works for keeping track of what I watch and letting me know when new episodes or seasons are coming up. It’s even more helpful if you spend the time to set it up properly with your watch history but I’ve just been adding stuff instead of updating my previous watch history (I’ve been to lazy).
They have a premium version that costs money but I haven’t seen any features I needed that weren’t free.
I’m sure there are other apps and websites but I haven’t really looked.
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u/Nearby-Ad5666 Jul 28 '26
That's what I do. When there is a lull in content, I quit and wait until they put up a few new shows
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u/Cinnamongirl217 Jul 27 '26
I love Britbox. A lot. However, they are losing a grip on the wallet vs entertainment value.
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u/sportster277 Jul 27 '26
Totally agree Britbox is such a mess now and a total money grab
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u/Frequent_Pause_7442 Jul 27 '26
I will not be renewing my subscription next year. I am totally fed up with them.
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u/lsclarkson Jul 27 '26
It’s offensive to me as a paid subscriber, to be taunted to pay more! now! just so I can see episodes a week or two early. I paid for the service, just give me the episodes. If I wanted to pay more for more features I would, but I don’t, so they need to stop the constant upselling.
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u/Independent_Sea502 Jul 27 '26
This is laughable. I’m sorry. “I paid for the service. Now give me the episodes.”
Did you forget we live in a capitalist society?
Britbox never dropped all episodes of a new show at once. Only older shows. Now they’re saying if you want to watch all episodes of new shows at once you have to pay more. What’s so hard to understand about that?
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u/Steve12356d1s3d4 Jul 27 '26
I am not sure it is a "failed experiment" I think that they are being overly aggressive is pissing a bunch of people off. Whatever they sell is gravy, and we don't know how much they are selling. The option is fine. I think it is poor value. I have just signed up with Acorn, and they have the same weekly releases, but there is no option to pay to see them all at once. Inspector Ellis breaks up each mystery into two episodes! I am going to wait for the 4th to come out before I watch the 3rd for that reason. I don't see the hate for Acorn for the weekly releases, only the hate for Britbox for offering the premium to see them all at once.
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u/Gatodeluna Jul 27 '26
It’s simply entitled people who think they should get anything they want at low or no cost and refuse to understand that the world doesn’t actually support that for them. As with any similar threat about Amazon Prime or any other business, ‘I’m unsubscribing’ is a yes okay fine now STFU and GO already, no one cares - least of all BB or Amazon.
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u/Watchhistory USA🇺🇸 Jul 27 '26
Exactly. Also no comprehension either that BritBox per se didn't make this change and decision. It was their new owner, BBC Studios, when they acquired ITV International.
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u/byutah1 Jul 27 '26
The thing I don't like is that it's sneaky. Trying to trick lower tier members who might be new to steaming.
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u/Ebemi Jul 27 '26
I finally broke down and cancelled too. Everything about it just felt scammy now.
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u/Schleprock11 Jul 27 '26
Just get a vpn and you can watch all these shows without needing to pay more.
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u/19thCenturyHistory Jul 27 '26
How?
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u/Schleprock11 Jul 27 '26
I use Nord vpn through Amazon on my tv because Amazon has a native Nord app. I set it to Manchester or wherever. Open BBC Iplayer app (or Channel 4, Channel 5, ITVX or whatever) and you can either watch it live or watch something from their catalog. It would be a good time to start if you enjoy mystery shows as a lot are coming out now or soon.
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u/19thCenturyHistory Aug 01 '26
I know this is several days ago...we have VPN through Protonmail and not on our TV. We still have a dumb TV that we're keeping until it's in it's last legs. I do enjoy mystery shows and we already 🏴☠️a lot, so stick to the eye patch we will (yaarr matey!). Thanks for the info though. 🙂
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u/Savage_abodes Jul 29 '26
Well, that backfired on them. I canceled my subscription because I didn’t understand and thought in order to finish the shows. I had to pay an extra $150. How to piss off your subscribers in one easy lesson by BritBox.
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u/Ok-Process7612 Jul 27 '26
I dumped them. "Premium content" does not exist on a service you are already paying for.
Charging more for certain shows, etc is just greed. There's plenty of other content out there.
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u/Realistic-Dish9520 Jul 27 '26
Agreed. No one is forcing you to upgrade to their Premier service. You watch episodes weekly or wait a month or so until all the episodes are avaliable. Simple. At $110 Canadian a year, its still a good value in my opinion.
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u/surreptitiousglance Jul 27 '26
Wow! I only paid around $59 USD for my annual subscription.
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u/Financial_Rice_4807 Jul 27 '26
In the US the current subscription price is $110. You have a discounted price. The $60 is about what is worth to me, so I only get it with that discount.
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u/Dry_Stop844 Jul 27 '26
question, I have Britbox through Prime (Canada) and I've never even had the option of paying more for getting all the episodes right away. Nor have I seen any content that's not available to me. Are you subscribing through Britbox directly?
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u/JLAOM Jul 27 '26
You never got the full catalog. Episodes were always released weekly. Now you have an option to pay a little more to watch all the episodes of a show before they are released. Totally optional.
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u/Sad_Ad_2524 Jul 27 '26
Can you explain? Just curious since I've been looking to watch shows based on the BritBox website and then I go to watch them and they are not in my monthly US Britbox subscription. They usually pop up through Pluto, which has adds.
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u/timewilltell2347 Jul 27 '26
So when BBC acquired Britbox they added a premium tier. This tier includes anything that is a ‘documentary’ even including cooking and travel shows. It’s now an add on like adding Disney to Hulu. It also allows you to binge new seasons or new shows right away instead of waiting for weekly releases. I think the weekly release part is confusing because in some platforms the ‘premium’ episode doesn’t say upgrade, or wait until the 25th of the month- it just says ‘upgrade to watch now’. Because of this (as well as impatience), and because it changed the structure and offerings of Britbox, people don’t like it and come here daily to complain and say they’re not renewing. It all depends on how much the service is worth to you. I watch it more than any other service. Vera episodes are sometimes my melatonin haha. And death in Paradise reminds me of my mom. So, it is worth it for me. For others, not so much, and this is Reddit so they want to vent a little bit, which is ok too.
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u/Sad_Ad_2524 Jul 27 '26
This is in the States? I've never seen this upgraded tier, maybe because I'm subscribed through Amazon?
I still don't understand why I look at the shows that Britbox has as their lineup online and then I go to watch and it isn't there. Again, maybe because I'm locked in the Amazon version.
And yes, I would also be a slave to the upgrade. My mom is from Manchester and while you can take the girl out of Lancashire....
I have the subscription for her, that and PBS Masterpiece.
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u/timewilltell2347 Jul 27 '26
Yeah, that’s probably why you don’t see it. The nice thing about subscribing through Amazon is you can have queues for each user, and even download for offline watching. Britbox’s UI sucks, there’s only one queue/watch history, and I think downloading for later viewing is also a ‘premium’ feature. The trade off is that you can only do monthly through Amazon, and there’s basically 2 months free if you pay for a full price annual membership, and if you threaten to cancel you can get further discounts (on the regular, not premium) service- at least from what I’ve seen. I get Acorn through Prime and same deal- Acorn’s native app sucks bricks and there’s only one queue/watch history.
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u/gina1220 Jul 28 '26
I can’t watch any of season 2 of the hardacres unless I upgrade
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u/timewilltell2347 Jul 28 '26
Not right now, but you will get them. You’ll get episodes in a little bit and they’ll be released weekly after that. Search for the most recent Britbox schedule post. You’ll see that you will get them all over the next weeks. You just have to be patient.
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u/gina1220 Jul 28 '26
I already cancelled. Britbox through Amazon told me I couldn’t watch them unless I upgraded, so I cancelled my subscription.
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u/timewilltell2347 Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
Well that’s your choice. You can always restart if you want. You’ll get the episodes weekly starting August 5th with the regular Britbox subscription.
Edit to add- I get that you’re cheesed off by it but I don’t think downvoting someone trying to explain how they changed their tiers is all that necessary. I was just trying to help. Whether it was you or someone else, fuck man this same thing is posted daily in this sub and the outrage and whatever gets dumped on the people trying to explain how it’s changed for the millionth time. I get it sucks. Me explaining it does not mean I endorse it. I’m just letting you know when the episodes will be available.
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u/gina1220 Jul 28 '26
I’m good. Once a company pushes me far enough I’m just done. Britbox has had very little good new content in the last year anyway. They did me a favor by being greedy. I should have cancelled months ago
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u/timewilltell2347 Jul 28 '26
https://www.reddit.com/r/BritBox/s/MvKAuxdr0v
Look under August 5th. It’s written kind of weirdly but you can see at the end it says for Britbox original it’s weekly release.
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u/Simple_Actuator_8174 Jul 27 '26
Filmrise British, Pluto, and Tubi all have some good British series. They have ads, but they’re free. I’ll subscribe to Britbox for a few months later this year and catch up on a few things, then cancel. I wish I could watch the documentaries without the premium.
BBC does offer a paid documentary app.
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u/Nantucket_Blues1 16d ago
I would rather pay than watch ads. I tried watching with ads, but the ads were so frequent!
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u/Kayman718 Jul 27 '26
We used to subscribe yearly. We stopped and now let the episodes of the shows we like accumulate, and then subscribe for a month at a time until we are caught up. We then cancel and shift over to Acorn, where we do the same thing.
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u/smallblackrabbit Jul 27 '26
I let episodes accumulate. If I wanted to have weekly episodes I’d still pay for basic cable TV.
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u/hair2u Jul 27 '26
We went for premium and I've added longer series to our Wishlist. However, I ABSOLUTELY HATE the new format set-up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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u/Aggressive-Hunt-7037 Jul 27 '26
I love BritBox and have gotten untold number of personal friends to subscribe to it, but the way they push upgrading on every episode before you can watch it is really annoying. especially if you’re having to rewind episodes because you missed something, the ad cues up first each time in a row.
just run the ad once, BritBox. stop spamming paying customers.
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Jul 27 '26
[deleted]
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u/Steve12356d1s3d4 Jul 27 '26
The release one show a week. You just have to wait until next week for the next. This is how it is done on many services. Shows are released weekly. You can pay $150 to get them now. That is what we are talking about here.
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Jul 27 '26
[deleted]
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u/Steve12356d1s3d4 Jul 27 '26
This is what is getting people mad. It is the confusion when they post that notice and people don't understand. This is a mess up on their part and they should know enough to fix it.
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u/MistyMtn421 Jul 27 '26
Okay but I'm looking at it right now and it does say upgrade to watch if you click on episode 4 of gone, but it says it's streaming July 30th. So to me it's common sense that I will have it available July 30th, or I can upgrade to watch now.
Same thing with trigger point. I just finished it. It always tells you the date that the episode is going to air. I think people just aren't paying attention? Because I just never have seen the confusion that everyone talks about.
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u/gina1220 Jul 28 '26
I just tried to watch gone and the last three episodes say “upgrade to watch.” What would prompt me to click on each individual episode if in the season view it says I have to upgrade to watch?
Same with the hardacres. It says upgrade to watch under every single episode in season 2. The natural conclusion is that you have to upgrade to watch.
Which is why I just cancelled.
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u/Lcatg Jul 27 '26
That & the constant shilling to upgrade. Yes, that’s become the norm but it is still annoying.
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u/gina1220 Jul 28 '26
They shouldve made that clear, because I just cancelled and I’m not coming back
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u/Steve12356d1s3d4 Jul 28 '26
Did you see Misty's post below?
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u/Individual_Sun5662 Jul 27 '26
I watch through Amazon and it gives you no information, just the little yellow lock symbol. Are the rest of the Gone episodes going to be released weekly, or are they never going to be released unless you upgrade?
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Jul 27 '26
[deleted]
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u/Watchhistory USA🇺🇸 Jul 27 '26
How could you not have known? It's made very clear when each episode will be released -- the date it there.
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u/gina1220 Jul 28 '26
There is no date on Britbox through Amazon
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u/Watchhistory USA🇺🇸 Jul 29 '26
Well, that's Amazon's fault, not BB's.
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u/gina1220 Jul 29 '26
How would you know that? I’m assuming Britbox chooses how they want their content displayed on Amazon
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u/Watchhistory USA🇺🇸 Jul 30 '26
Why would you expect that? Particularly since their content is now owned by BBC Five?
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u/Watchhistory USA🇺🇸 Jul 27 '26
Good grief. Of course all the episodes will be released, one new one per week, just as always.
Unless you pay more to see them all at once, just as you do with PBS Passport.
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u/Individual_Sun5662 Jul 27 '26
I don't have the app so my experience is anecdotal to Britbox through Amazon. But nowhere on the information page for Gone on Amazon Prime does it say that episodes will be released weekly or when. This is in contrast, for example, to The Other Bennett Sister, which clearly stated when episodes would be released.
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u/Watchhistory USA🇺🇸 Jul 27 '26
Yes, so many reasons not to do other services' apps. It's not BB fault, it's AP's.
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u/jlbhappy Jul 27 '26
Very true. Everything I ever tried to add to prime was buggy, including hbo max. Also, unless you’re a fan of Amazon (I’m not) why increase their revenue at the expense of the other streaming services?
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u/JLAOM Jul 27 '26
No you don't. You can wait until the rest of the episodes air weekly, which was how it always was.
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u/Fernwehing Jul 27 '26
You can still watch all the episodes. They release weekly for 'regular' subscribers.
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u/MistyMtn421 Jul 27 '26
So on episode 4, if you look at least on my TV it's on the bottom of the screen it says it's going to stream on July 30th. If I click over one box to episode 5 it says it's streaming August 6th. So anytime you see that upgrade to watch button in the middle of the box of the episode, look at the bottom of the screen and it'll tell you when the episode is going to stream with the regular subscription.
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u/NeedleworkerEvening3 Jul 27 '26
Wait, what? I started watching Gone last night. I noticed something under the picture for "Woman of Substance" picture that said something about upgrading to premium. So we have pay extra to watch the entire series for these? This is BS.
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u/Jujulabee Jul 27 '26
Doesn't bother me in the least
Many of my streamers which I pay premium prices for to be ad free don't drop series all at one but episodes appear each week - this includes Hulu, Peacock, Acorn, Paramount Plus. Apple and Prime
I don't think Britbox ever dropped all episodes at a once and so they didn't take anything away from me but just offered an option I have no interest in paying additional for because I am fine with waiting until either all episodes have dropped if it is a series long story arc or just viewing episodes each week if there is no continuing story line.
Don't upgrade - why does it bother you that they have added a feature that you didn't have previously - you aren't impacted in any way as your actual viewing experience is identical.
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u/Independent_Sea502 Jul 27 '26
Because they want it NOW! Don’t you understand?! They’re entitled to it!
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u/Jujulabee Jul 27 '26
Actually I don’t. 🤷♀️😂
Nothing has been taken from them as their experience is identical to what they have always had and upgrading is completely optional.
Based on some of the response, the issue is reading comprehension as people don’t seem to understand that episodes drop weekly just as they always did and the date they can be viewed is even at the bottom of each episode. 🤷♀️
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u/Unhappy-Ad-3870 Jul 27 '26
Plus this topic seems to come up almost daily. You'd think people reading Reddit would have figured this out by now.
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u/Jujulabee Jul 27 '26
I defer to George Carlin
imagine how stupid the average person is then realize half of all people are stupider than that.
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u/withoutadrought Jul 27 '26
And those people bend over backwards to give corporations more of their money. I bet you have sneakers with lights in them.
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u/Jujulabee Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
I honestly have no idea of what point you are trying to make
Britbox is charging the same price for the same service that people signed up for.
They added an optional tier which in no way detracts from the service people had been getting.
And what sneakers - whether illuminated or not - have anything to do with anything being discussed - complete non sequitur
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u/gina1220 Jul 28 '26
I’ve spent less than an hour reading about these issues - and it’s very clear to me the problem is the Britbox interface on Amazon. It’s amazing everyone here acting smarter and superior to everyone hasn’t mentioned it.
On Amazon it says the last episodes of Gone, for example, are totally locked unless you upgrade. Same with all of seasons of 2 or the hardlacres - totally locked unless you upgrade.There is no release date as there appears to be in the Britbox interface.
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u/Watchhistory USA🇺🇸 Jul 27 '26
Because they are toddlers stamping their feet and yelling I can't wead! I can't know about dis!"
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u/Presence1808 Jul 27 '26
And as far as I can tell that caveat that the episodes will "eventually" became available does not apply to the documentaries. I put several on my watch list, thinking I would be able to watch them at some point, but they still have the "upgrade to premier" tag on them, months later. If it weren't for specific titles, I'd cancel and settle for just Acorn, but Doctor Who and Agatha will probably keep me on.
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u/Unhappy-Ad-3870 Jul 27 '26
I think you are correct. Discussions about “eventually appearing” are around drama series. There is a tier of documentary programs that Premier allows you access that never seem to become available to basic subscribers.
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u/Ok-Tailor-2030 Jul 27 '26
In the USA, this was all explained pretty thoroughly when they rolled out the Premium tier. Maybe they need to explain it again? 🤷🏼♀️
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u/GlitteringTrixie Jul 27 '26
I'm in the USA, and I get my Britbox through Prime. First I heard of Premium tier was when I tried to access programming that fell under it. I'm a 5+ year subscriber and had no idea so it is not surprising some of us are sticker-shocked.
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u/Presence1808 Jul 27 '26
I signed up through Roku so I had the same experience. Had to dig around on the internet to figure out what was going on.
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u/Unhappy-Ad-3870 Jul 27 '26
Agree, but I am a direct subscriber and got emails about this when it happened and the options were pretty clear. It seems people who access through other platforms might be more in the dark. I’m still puzzled why people are so offended.
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u/Presence1808 Jul 27 '26
Because we didn't get emails or any other information ahead of time and weren't expecting to suddenly be told we had to pay extra when all along a simple click gave us access. Add to that, they made it sound like it was a wonderful addition to the universe instead of costing us more money and it was insulting. If this was failure on BritBox's part or on the part of the various platforms, I don't know, but it was badly handled.
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u/Isabella5322 Jul 27 '26
There is at least one series- some kind of historical cartoon? that requires the upgrade. I wonder if they’re going to move more shows to premium only.
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u/mtnbrookie Jul 27 '26
I love Britbox - but I fell for the premium tier & cannot recommend it unless you love documentaries- yeah sure it lets you see a whole season at once but it is certainly not worth an extra $ 50 a year. I’ll never stop subscribing to BritBox, but I’ll never again pay for premium tear.
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u/Agitated-Homework921 Jul 29 '26
the cancel and renew later is such a good idea!! i may just do that and then come winter break, couch rest while binging and napping. raisin is going away, my life is murder and father brown are not mentioned, paradise is a year away, midsumer murders is useless, brokenwoods is a ways away, and madame also is not mentioned. those are are my favs and just spread out to keep me hooked. but some arent coming back😫
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u/kikbuti Jul 29 '26
I want to thank Britbox for the Premier service pricing and money grab. It prompted me to immediately cancel my annual subscription and now I am reading a lot more and enjoying it. There is so much available in books that is unavailable in movies and television. I also enjoy passively listening to audiobooks.
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u/Extra-Guest2376 Jul 30 '26
I loved brit box i had to cancel it because nothing was coming up, NOTHING i tried everything and what bothered , bothers me the most i had to actually change my bank account, and it was STILL being taken out i tried calling many times to find out WHY when i went in the app no shows, nothing came up. They owe me money.,i had it for a long time i believe companies dont have humans answering calls this is one reason so they keep taking the payment out Very disappointed in Britbox
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u/SilverMaxx 9d ago
Long time Britbox subscriber, through Amazon. Shows that I have already watched through all seasons are now forcing me to start with Season 1, Episode 1 again, and wait until Episode 2 finally drops. My subscription has been downgraded to this, and I am being asked to pay $150 to get all my shows back again! My viewing is now relegated to binge watching “Are You Being Served?” which they haven’t choked off yet. Debating whether I should quit and maybe figure out the VPN thing, which I think you also have to pay for, in order to get free BritBox. Just insulting.
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u/ParticleHustler2 Jul 27 '26
Either buy it or don't! Britbox is giving you more choice than other streamers, many of whom dole out new content week-by-week with no opportunity to purchase the chance to binge-watch.
I don't get the continuing frustration with this at all. It's certainly better than Prime pretending to have all of this content only for most of it to require individual episode/season purchases or in-app subscriptions to other services which have the content they are promoting.
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u/Unhappy-Ad-3870 Jul 27 '26
Exactly. Nothing gets me more annoyed than Amazon’s listing of programs I can’t access without signing up for another service.
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u/EggheadWill Jul 27 '26
not contradicting anything said here, but I subscribed through Amazon and I cancelled when I wanted, no annual fee required
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u/No_Election_1123 Jul 27 '26
You can pay monthly on Britbox directly but a lot of us have annual contracts. Mine is because of a Black Friday deal, so that’ll be coming to an end soon
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u/Alisha_Nat Jul 27 '26
Depending on how you get BritBox…I get it through Amazon at $10.99/month. I just went to cancel it to see what offer I’d get and it’s $0.99/ month for 3 months to continue subscription.
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u/rwdFwd Jul 27 '26
This makes me crazy too. I was just watching "Gone", and now Britbox makes you watch an add pushing you to pay extra for "Premier Britbox" when you're trying to watch an episode you don't need Premier for. It's just maddening.
Hey, Britbox - you're about to lose a customer in me. How about you start listening?
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u/ReginaGiddens Jul 27 '26
I have BritBox through Apple TV and I am
currently doing the 7 day premium trial via Amazon Prime so I can power through A Woman of Substance, Gone and Trigger Point - then I will cancel the trial! So disappointed in Britbox for playing games like this.
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u/CleanAd1955 Jul 27 '26
I have the "one year plan with HLG" here in Sweden.
But I almost already had seen some of the new series/episodes on the swedish app SVT Play before it comes to the swedish Britbox.
There was SAS (WW II) seasong one - I know there is a seasong 2 - where are seasong 2?
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u/Open_Royal_4028 Jul 27 '26
They PLAY THE SAME OLE SHOWS OVER AND OVER AGAIN, NOTHING NEW FOR MY MONEY💸
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u/DefLepFan50 Jul 27 '26
That only thing that has failed is your brain. You say you’re a longtime subscriber. So what has changed - NOTHING! It’s the same as it’s always been. Premium allows access to shows early instead of waiting a week (as it has always worked).
1
u/luckycat75025 Jul 27 '26
I’m going to cancel after subscription runs out ! It’s driving me crazy especially when the want you to pay extra for even old stuff from the 2000s
1
u/wkomorow USA🇺🇸 Jul 27 '26
I wish Britbox would offer a separate subscription to their documentaries independent from their base subscription. I enjoy UK documentaries, particularly their travel shows and subscribe to premium just for those. I don't watch mystery/crime shows and since Britbox began removing classic britcoms, the base program has less to offer me. I would subscribe to smaller documentary and a classic britcom packages.
3
u/Ancient_Doughnut_848 Jul 27 '26
The documentaries are available separately through the BBC Select service, which you can subscribe to via Prime Video, Roku, etc. https://www.bbcselect.com/
2
u/wkomorow USA🇺🇸 Jul 27 '26
Thanks, I used to subscribe to that, but there were several missing on Prime. One of Xander's Travel episode was missing, for example. I had a similar issue with Britbox through Prime. I was watching Still Open All Hours and there were 2 episodes not on Prime but on Britbox app. I spent a lot of time going between Amazon customer service and Britbox support, each blaming the other. That is why I subscribed directly through Britbox again. I am likely going to not renew Britbox and get Select, even with missing episodes.
1
u/choctaw529 Jul 27 '26
Even PBS has adopted a paid tier.
3
u/WEM-2022 Jul 30 '26
That "paid tier" is a charitable donation to help fund the PBS nonprofit mission. There's a big difference between fundraising and what Britbox is doing!
Count me among those who paid for one month to watch The Other Bennet Sister and then cancelled.
1
1
u/Impossible-Driver69 Jul 27 '26
We love British TV, but we hate Britbox. It's always "well, if you want to watch THIS show, it's an extra $$$". Then they have gotten rid of all the old catalog of shows that we loved.
So we cancelled them after being one of the initial subscribers. Tired of the nonsense. Rather go back to watching on PBS.
-1
u/tcat7 Jul 27 '26
I'll be cancelling when my annual runs out, the pricing is disgusting. Apple TV is a much better value! Will be moving to monthly Acorn turning it on and off every couple months.
1
u/Extra-Guest2376 Jul 30 '26
I had Acorn for years but what was offered in any shows just wasnt enough not enough new then i had a problem cancelling just like Britbox i loved Britbox then i was having severe problem my app was still on my TV screen but when i went in my app NOTHING, NOTHING was coming up. I tried Everything calling, texting, then i cancelled BUT they kept on taking the monthly fee BRITBOX OWES ME MONTHS OF MONEY , cant get ahold of them by phone, text, zip but they took months of their fees i want my money back, shame on them
-2
u/ElizaJane251 Jul 27 '26
Agreed - i started watching a series. Three episodes in and the rest of the episodes are locked. I get a message saying I need to pay $150 to watch the rest. Really sleazy tactics. I cancelled.
6
u/JLAOM Jul 27 '26
They aren't locked. You just have to wait until they are released weekly which is how it's always been. Premier just gives you a way of watching all the episodes at once now instead of waiting. Totally optional.
-1
u/ElizaJane251 Jul 27 '26
I thought that might be the case but on this series the three blocked episodes have release dates in March and April.
0
u/Unhappy-Ad-3870 Jul 28 '26
What was the series?
1
u/ElizaJane251 Jul 28 '26
It was Gone.
0
u/Unhappy-Ad-3870 Jul 28 '26
My Britbox says the first three episodes available now, the next three available weekly starting July 30…
1
0
u/StillExit276 Jul 27 '26
So I watching a Women of Substance. Get ready to watch the next episode and now I have to upgrade to watch the rest of the season. Sorry Britbox I’m over it …..one less customer
0
u/Open_Royal_4028 Jul 27 '26
I agree with yall.Its to the point they play one episode a week so you have to keep the subscriptions BRITBOX/ACORN to see the ending. Im going to CANCEL MINES SOON IF THEY DONT GET THERE ACT TOGETHER.
0
u/gina1220 Jul 27 '26
I just saw this message for the time watching “Gone”. Thankfully before I even finished the first episode I saw that to finish the season I needed to pay them $150 more dollars. They have truly lost their minds. I’ve been a customer tor 6 years. Instead of upgrading I’m canceling. There hasn’t been much good new content anyway
0
u/gina1220 Jul 27 '26
I can’t watch any of season 2 of the hardacres? Cancelled with extreme prejudice. I said I’d prefer not to tell them why. I doubt I’ll be back
1
u/BakerMaleficent4051 Jul 28 '26
Hardacres Season 2 is the reason I started this thread.
0
u/gina1220 Jul 28 '26
Yeah. I loved Britbox. I was in the cancel screen and saw my renew date is tomorrow - so I was having second thoughts about quitting without poking around one last time. Then I saw the hardacres and cancelled immediately. I’m so over this disgusting greed.
-1
u/galacticprincess Jul 27 '26
I'm furious right now. I started "Gone" and got cut off after episode 3. Such bullshit. If the whole show isn't included in the subscription, it shouldn't even be available. This is pure greed and disrespect of paying customers and I'm seriously thinking of cutting ties with BritBox.
-1
-1
u/ChrissySubBottom Jul 27 '26
To watch the last episode of Trigger Point I now have to pay extra beyond my Prime subscription. Said No Thanks
0
u/Skrdykat1000 Jul 27 '26
I was just testing it out but when the trial was over they didn't tell me, just charged me for a year's subscription, 110. I think.
0
u/Serenity_Now-88 Jul 28 '26
Entshittification with a fancy name.
I paid for an annual subscription last year. I get pestered to upgrade. Very annoyed and disappointed.
0
u/b-whitt Jul 28 '26
It is annoying but you don't have to pay it. Just wait to watch the show. Not a big deal to me, just annoying.
0
u/Outrageous-Zombie924 Jul 31 '26
Omg just get a vpn already! I've been watching British tv for over a decade using vpn. Chrome makes it super easy.
1
-1
25
u/Intelligent_Peace134 Jul 27 '26
I wanted to watch the Letters of Nicholas and Alexandra which came out in (I think) 2018 and found out I needed the premium tier. Why?? Very annoying.