scrubbedexpat027

It's not just a cache issue as I always clear my cache everytime.

The BBC have been going through a round of blocking IP addresses recently. TunnelBear stopped working so I switched to https://hide.me/en/ who have the option of selecting between different UK locations.

This worked for a while but stopped recently. Their support told me that they switch IP addresses every now and then to get around it.

It's just a game of cat and mouse.

The only way for it to stop is for providers to supply a wide ranging service at low cost. For example, if Britbox had BBC1/2, ITV, CH4/5 for $4.99 a month, I would subscribe to save all the hastle.

Providing a limited service and constantly shutting down IP addresses is the wrong way to go IMO.

mrken30

I very much doubt they would charge less than the license fee

sherbert

BBC is funded by license fees which are classed as a tax: how on earth do you think the BBC would be able to justify selling access to overseas viewers for pennies?

scrubbedexpat027

I have no idea how the internal management works at the BBC. But just because something has always worked a certain way doesn't mean that it's still the best way.

People laughed at the first companies in the games industry to start giving away their games for free. Now they are some of the most profitable businesses in the world.

Same with Netflix and the amount of content they provide for a small monthly fee. But they seem to be doing ok too.

High value. Low cost. Mass market.

Times change.

vikingsail

imho the BBC belong to that select group of dinosaurs now languishing in the elephants graveyard of those reluctant to change. You know those proud puffed out executives in the 1990's who said that advertising on the internet would never work, or those newspaper execs who said people will never go for reading their news on a computer on this thing called the internet!!

The BBC currently hide behind the veil of alleged copyright issues - all issues which could be easily resolved. They will be forced to change or go out of business. Sadly, they will probably choose the latter through incompetence an resistance to change.

fwiw my tunnelbear works just fine?

scrubbedexpat027

Thanks. I might switch back. 😀

scrubbedexpat027

Yes. This.

It's such a shame as the BBC has some of the highest quality, most respected programming in the world. They shouldn't just be going after the expat market. They should be going head to head with Amazon & Netflix.

My colleagues regularly watch British TV on those services but have never heard of Britbox.

I'm sure they get a good fee for that content but imagine the revenue they could funnel back into the British economy if a good proportion of the world market were subscribed to Britbox as well as Netflix and Amazon.

The establishment will eventually die out and the license fee will be scrapped. It's just a matter of time.

ChrisK

...very variable accessing the BBC through smartDNS; sometimes it works just fine, others just refreshing the webpage will do, then other times when no matter which UK server is used it says it's blocked.


Oh, and BTW, I do pay the licence fee... - compared to cable TV it's much, much better (When it works!)

Relobotomy

Gotta love Catchup TV

rbackhouse

Britbox is now available as an Amazon Prime Video channel. If you use Amazon for streaming then you can add it for $7 a month. Seems like a smart move by the BBC.

scrubbedexpat027

Ah yes, I wasn't aware of that. That's a step in right direction.
Now to scrap the license fee, work out deals with ch4/5 to bring it all together on Britbox, drop all other websites like iPlayer/ITV Player etc, subsidize the cost for UK residents and market the hell out of the service to the rest of the world.

Gabo

I totally agree. I don’t think any of the big 4 TV establishments in the UK have any idea of the value of their programming to the world in general. They could make an absolute killing by just controlling the access through subscription. They have the infrastructure in place to do this, they can easily not stream things they have no rights to i.e. Movies. They do this already.
The potential revenues must be huge based upon the numbers I have seen for the number of expats and non-expats jumping through hoops to watch the best TV in the world. Britbox is good but it could be better.

mrken30

That is why you need to support things like Britbox. A lot of BBC content is already sold to PBS and there are a fair few joint productions with Netflix and Amazon now.

I just wish they had more kids shows on Britbox.

malch

Amen on all counts.

Broad and low cost service is what Netflix did. And it worked!

I've looked at just about all of the streaming bundles and, for me, Netflix has been the only one to represent decent value.

I think BritBox is overpriced for what it is. If they added some live BBC and/or ITV channels I'd probably go for it, but not as it currently stands.

One would have thunk these people could learn something from the music industry which nearly wiped itself out. Probably would have but for Steve Jobs and iTunes:

https://www.riaa.com/u-s-sales-database/

ChrisK

One thing I've found that despite using SmartDNS servers supposedly in the UK - that's not where the IP addresses were. Today 'London' was actually in Brazil, 'Glasgow' was in Switzerland, and 'Manchester' was in London. So, it's not surprising that people have problems!