BBC and ITV plan 'Britflix' paid streaming service to rival Netflix

Plans by the BBC to team up with ITV and possibly other broadcasters to set up a subscription streaming service have received encouragement from the government.

A new online portal would provide the BBC and ITV with a means of charging viewers to watch programming once it had been shown for free for 30 days on their own iPlayer and Hub services.

The project, which could commission its own original series, is understood to have the working title 'Britflix', according to the Telegraph.

The government welcomed the BBC’s "commitment to develop and test some form of additional subscription services”, it said in a white paper on the future of the corporation published last Thursday.

The white paper said the BBC would be given the scope to develop the plans as it sees fit, but licence fee payers "will not be asked to pay for ‘top-up’ services for anything they currently get”.

Current BBC plans are for the new online service to be delivered over the iPlayer, with ITV involved along with a number of production companies, including Downton Abbey maker NBC Universal.

Culture secretary John Whittingdale told The Telegraph that he was supportive of the BBC's plans.

“We’re moving into a different world where more and more content is going to be made available on demand," he said. "Collaboration with other broadcasters and other production companies we think is important. If they want to explore that kind of thing, we’d encourage them."