Owned by BBC Worldwide Founded 2014 Motto Unmissable | Slogan Unmissable Owner BBC Worldwide | |
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Launched 3 August 2014; 2 years ago (2014-08-03) (Australia)
16 May 2015; 20 months ago (2015-05-16) (Netherlands)
4 June 2015; 20 months ago (2015-06-04) (Belgium)
18 October 2015; 15 months ago (2015-10-18) (South Africa)
1 February 2016; 12 months ago (2016-02-01) (Middle East & North Africa)
4 April 2016; 10 months ago (2016-04-04) (Singapore)
1 October 2016; 4 months ago (2016-10-01) (Malaysia)
1 November 2016; 3 months ago (2016-11-01) (Hong Kong) Picture format 576i (16:9 SDTV)
1080i (16:9 HDTV) Broadcast area Australia
Netherlands
Belgium
Africa
Middle East
Singapore
Malaysia Sister channel(s) BBC Earth
BBC UKTV
BBC HD
BBC Lifestyle
BBC Entertainment
BBC World News
BBC Brit
CBeebies Profiles | ||
BBC First is an entertainment subscription television channel featuring comedy and drama programming. The channel is wholly owned and operated by BBC Worldwide. The channel began rolling out internationally in 2014, launching first in Australia.
Contents
History
In October 2013, BBC announced that in 2014 they would rollout 3 new brands - BBC Earth, BBC First, and BBC Brit, with BBC First to be dedicated to comedy and drama programming.
Australia
On 17 April 2013, it was announced that the BBC had forged a new exclusive deal with Australian subscription television provider Foxtel which would see a new channel launched that would feature comedy and drama content, with programming screening as close to their original UK transmission as possible. It was later announced the new channel would be named BBC First, a new global brand that would roll out in 2014, with Australia being the first location to launch the new channel, on 3 August 2014.
Netherlands
BBC First launched in the Netherlands on 16 May 2015, initially exclusively on the KPN IPTV service (Interactieve TV van KPN) on channel 23. The programme mix will be specifically for the Netherlands with more emphasis placed on drama and crime series. All programming is subtitled in Dutch. KPN simultaneously withdrew BBC Three and BBC Four.
Belgium
The channel launched in Belgium on 4 June 2015.
South Africa
The channel launched in South Africa on 18 October 2015.
Middle East & North Africa
On the 7th of January 2016, BBC Worldwide and OSN (Orbit Showtime Network) have announced that they had forged a new and exclusive deal which would see the launch of BBC First HD on the first of February 2016. The new channel would broadcast to Middle East & North Africa and would feature comedy and drama content, with programming screening 48 hours after their UK premier.
Singapore
BBC First launched a Subscription Video-On-Demand (SVOD) service on StarHub TV Channel 522 on 4 April 2016.
Malaysia
BBC First was launched as a Subscription Video-On-Demand (SVOD) service on HyppTV Channel 812 on October 1, 2016, 10 months after BBC Entertainment was dropped from the provider. The channel's content is also available in the "VOD" tab in the HyppTV Everywhere app for iOS and Android.
Hong Kong
On 1 November 2016, BBC First launched as a Subscription Video-On-Demand (SVOD) service in Hong Kong. The channel replaced BBC On Demand and BBC Entertainment on Now TV. On 14 November 2016, the service was launched on myTV Super OTT platform.
Programming blocks
There are BBC First programming blocks on the following channels:
Original programming
Acquired programming
Not all content are available in all territories.