'Line of Duty' Moves House To BritBox Ahead of Season 6 Stateside Premiere

The only constant in streaming is change. Once upon a time, Netflix had all the TV series and movies from multiple outside production studios. Now, it is losing the last of the Disney and Warner Bros. Pictures vaults to Disney+ and HBO Max, respectively, while NBC/Universal and Paramount consider pulling their shows for Peacock and Paramount+. The same is true in the more niche streaming world as well. Line of Duty initially started as one of the many BBC broadcast shows housed in an uncategorized pile on Hulu until it reached the point of moving to BBC One. Then it became an Acorn TV exclusive. Now, ahead of Season 6's debut stateside, it's moving again, this time to BritBox.

Line of Duty has only gotten more valuable as time has gone on, not unlike Peaky Blinders over at Netflix. The series started as a smaller time crime show, building an audience until it became a ratings powerhouse for the BBC. Along the way, American audiences were alerted to it, especially when creator Jed Mercurio's other hit show, Bodyguard, became a surprise hit for Netflix. Season 5 saw record audiences in the U.K., and a new home in America, on Acorn TV, which also gathered up the exclusive rights to Season 1-4.

Season 6 should have been Acorn TV's next big push after Bloodlands, another crime thriller from Mecurio, via his Hat Trick Productions company. But it seems not to be. With Line of Duty pulling in the biggest audiences the show has ever seen for BBC One, ITV Studios, which helps produce the series, has renegotiated. The exclusive streaming rights in the U.S. for all future seasons will now move to BBC Studios and ITV's joint venture, BritBox. The first four seasons have already turned up on BritBox. But don't panic, Acorn subscribers doing catch-up, all episodes are also still on Acorn TV, along with Season 5. The exclusivity only extends to Season 6 and points beyond.