Interview: Soumya Sriraman, BritBox

BritBox is making headlines in the UK following confirmation that it would launch a new streaming service for the UK later this autumn, some 12 months since media regulator Ofcom gave its permission for the service to go ahead. The SVoD service, owned by the BBC and ITV, has access priced at £5.99 per month

But BritBox is already live and in good health in North America. Launched in March 2017 it had achieved a subscriber base of some 250,000 in its first year, and that number doubled the following year and now tops 650,000.

Soumya Sriraman runs the operation from New York. She spoke at IBC’s Leaders’ Forum on September 12 talking about marketing direct to consumers. Also speaking during the day was Chris Whiteley of rival Netflix.

“I know Chris very well, from his time at the BBC,” says Sriraman, “But in our view the world is telling us that…