The BBC's plans to deliver a British competitor to streaming services Netflix and Amazon Prime have been given the green light by the Government. The project is in its very early stages. It is expected to be the first service that is paid for outside of the license fee, and could potentially provide access to archived programmes from both the BBC and ITV.
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'There may come a moment in the future where all television is delivered online,' says culture secretary John Whittingdale. 'We’re moving into a different world where more and more content is going to be made available on demand.'
This doesn't mean all your favourite shows are about to be ones you're going to have to pay for, though, as the BBC says that existing shows will not be behind a paywall. Last week’s white paper on the future of the BBC made it clear that, 'licence fee payers will not be asked to pay for "top-up" services for anything they currently get'.
The Government is also going to attempt to close the so-called 'iPlayer loophole' that allows people to watch shows on BBC iPlayer for free even if they do not have a TV license.
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At the Good Housekeeping Institute, we've put many of the top streaming services for movies and TV to the test, with Netflix our top-scorer and Amazon Prime the runner-up. When it comes to watching these services on the TV, we've got you covered too, with our reviews of the best TV streaming devices.
Simon Cocks is Good Housekeeping UK’s Technology Editor, overseeing tech shopping content and strategy for the title. He previously also worked across other titles including Esquire UK, Digital Spy, Men’s Health UK and Women’s Health UK.
Simon specialises in testing the latest smart gadgets, home entertainment gear, headphones, speakers, portable chargers, radios, e-book readers and smartphones. He's reviewed top tech products from brands including Google, Apple, Amazon, JBL and Bose.
A magazine journalism graduate from Kingston University in 2014, Simon also worked on the Discovery and Silkroad inflight magazines. He then gained experience writing about entertainment at SFX and Total Film. He also contributed reviews and interviews to TwitchFilm (later ScreenAnarchy), CultBox and Frame Rated.
He joined Good Housekeeping UK as the Editorial Assistant for Special Projects and was part of Good Housekeeping’s Consumer Affairs Team between 2014 and 2019. In this role, he conducted price comparison research, wrote detailed household and money-saving advice guides and edited thousands of in-depth reviews for the Good Housekeeping Institute.
He has focused on technology and gadgets since 2020, where he started by testing out power banks and instant cameras. He writes reviews, roundups, news articles and deals updates, and also covers top tech deals during sales like Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
When not testing out the latest gizmos, you’ll find Simon either catching up with the newest releases at his local cinema or out shooting with his beloved compact camera.
You can follow Simon on Instagram, on Bluesky, on LinkedIn and on Threads.
