Wednesday, July 5, 2023

Acorn vs BritBox --differences

Here's something I wrote about the differences between Acorn and BritBox:

BritBox has more shows (all their shows are UK-related shows, including a few from Aus/NZ, Canada, etc) since it started its streaming service owning loads of older British shows. It does not carry shows from other areas.
... Acorn TV has many UK shows, but also has good shows from Australia/etc, plus good international shows with subtitles.

BB has more shows in total partly due to all those older shows (as well as having more comedy stuff and soaps, and it also has live events).

The article below decides that BritBox is "better" these days but mostly just because BritBox has more total programs.
That total number includes loads of older shows of all kinds including period dramas, more UK soaps, more comedies (scripted-comedies, but also more-current British panel shows and stand-up comedy performers), and it also has live UK-related events.
Those are things I'm often not particularly interested in, although I do like many "old" mysteries.

Btw, there's virtually no overlap** of shows between the Acorn and BritBox streaming services.

Personally I have both and watch excellent shows on both, but probably Acorn a bit more than BB.

. . . Two other services I have where there are some good UK shows, plus other good ones, are Amazon Prime Videos (free with Prime) and the add-on channel at Amazon called "PBS Masterpiece" (an additional $5.99/mo).

This is an interesting page for comparing Acorn and BB ... and also has info on how to get them onto your tv:
https://www.britishtv.com/britbox-vs-acorn-tv-in-2023-which-streaming-service-is-better

(** re overlapping shows:
According to that page, there's less than 1% of overlap between shows on Acorn and BritBox. And they also say, "Both platforms have a large number of shows which are not available on the other. Some are 100% exclusive to the platform in question, while others --particularly older shows-- can be found elsewhere, too.")

P.S. (from the article above):
Both BritBox and Acorn TV are available using a variety of methods – so we won't talk too much about interface.
It varies depending on your device and how you subscribe.
If you subscribe through Amazon, for example, you'll never see the BritBox or Acorn TV interface – only the Amazon one.
. . . . If you don't have a smart TV or do have a smart TV that doesn't support the BritBox or Acorn TV app, that's something you can fix by either subscribing through Amazon ..... OR by adding a streaming device like a Roku box or an Amazon Fire Stick (or Apple TV box?). The devices just plug into your TV, connect to your wifi, and allow you to put streaming channels on your TV (whether it's “smart” or not).