BBC Player launches in Poland with Canal+

Canal+ in Poland has struck a deal with BBC Studios (BBCS) that will see streaming service BBC Player launch in the country.

The on demand offering from the commercial arm of the UK public broadcaster will go live from 1 June and has been struck as part of a wider linear channel deal, extending an agreement between BBCS and Canal+ for channels such as BBC Brit and BBC Earth.

BBC Player will be available to all Canal+ subscribers until August, when it will be restricted to certain packages, and around 1,000 hours of drama, documentaries, pre-school and lifestyle programming will be available.

Shows range from factual titles such as David Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities and Mediterranean: Life Under Siege, documentaries such as Trump Takes On The World, crime dramas like Unforgotten and classic comedies such as ‘Allo ‘Allo!.

BBCS said programming “collections around the genres of travel, science, arts, history and current affairs” would be “regularly refreshed”, with shows joining the service immediately after their linear premiere. This will include drama titles such as Time and investigative thriller Smother, as well as the latest season of the UK version of motoring show Top Gear.

Zbigniew Pruski, BBCS’s commercial director for CEE, said the deal “complements our long standing BBC channels that Polish audiences love.”

“The inclusion of the VOD BBC Player library in the Canal+ offer is another step in building a wide range of high-quality productions from many different genres available in one place,” added Monika Kłosińska, programme purchasing director at Canal+ Poland.