We’ve all had that devastating moment where the movie or TV show we really want to watch isn’t on any of the streaming services we have. In today’s world of entertainment where every studio seemingly has their own service with all of their own titles, it’s near impossible to keep track of media access and subscriptions. Furthermore, these platforms all come with their own subscription fees – as students, this mutli-platform streaming status quo is challenging to manage both financially and logistically. However, one of the most under-appreciated perks of studying here at Cambridge is the access the university provides to an array of websites and services: one of which being Box of Broadcasts, which offers Cambridge students three million film and TV broadcasts on offer for free.

“Box of Broadcasts (BoB), is an online archive of off-air TV broadcasts from the last 20 years”

Spanning 75 channels, Box of Broadcasts (BoB), is an online archive of off-air TV broadcasts from the last 20 years. At first glance, the platform is not the most intuitive resource – it’s primarily designed for educational purposes. This means that its user interface is not as streamlined as other services, with it displaying TV shows episodes in a seemingly random order, for example. Nevertheless, BoB provides students with access to a variety of classic comedies such as Fawlty Towers, Mr Bean, critically acclaimed dramas like Sherlock, and binge-worthy reality shows like Love Island. BoB hosts a variety of movies as well – provided they have been shown on TV before. From Oscar-winning classics like Schindler’s List and Ben Hur, to more recent films (especially animated films) like Toy Story and the entire Harry Potter series, BoB has it for free. This accessible platform nearly completely eliminates the need for subscriptions to multiple streaming services, and all the hassle it brings, saving students significant time and money.

I think BoB is truly under-appreciated in its value of hosting an enormous variety of media, eliminating the need to spend countless hours searching different platforms for a particular film that may only be available on paid services. I can log into BoB and watch nearly everything that would be only on Disney+ (Marvel films, Pixar films, Grey’s Anatomy), Prime Video (James Bond films), or Netflix (Better Call Saul, Peaky Blinders). The ease of having nearly everything on one platform is unparalleled, and as Cambridge students, it’s something we should be making more use of.

“What is not covered by BoB is mostly available on other free to use services, like iPlayer, or ITVx”

BoB's issues of finicky search functions and poor series organisation can be rectified by the use of user-created playlists, which often organise series episodes in the correct order. Additionally, broadcasts from over 10 years ago are likely not to be in HD, so if you’re looking for a film, I’d recommend sorting by newest to get the most recent broadcast with the best picture quality. Additionally, not all films or shows are available due to licensing restrictions – classic Top Gear (with Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May) has only a few episodes available on BoB. Yet the rest of the series is available on the free BBC iPlayer; what is not covered by BoB is mostly available on other free to use services, like iPlayer, or ITVx.

Overall, despite its drawbacks, I’m a firm believer that BoB is an undervalued and useful streaming platform for Cambridge students. The fact that it is free to use, and can offer an even greater catalogue of movies and shows than a paid platform with in-house production, like AppleTV, is unparalleled. Yes, it is cumbersome to use at times, and the adverts can get annoying, but I think Box of Broadcasts is a brilliant alternative to using a variety of different platforms, and one that is unknown among the student body here at Cambridge. It’s too easy to fall into the habit of just using the same vast corporate services like Netflix that have the biggest share of the streaming world, and it is important to recognise that alternatives exist – particularly free alternatives. They may not be as sleek or as Netflix or have the financial backing of Prime Video, but there are a lot more resources available to us as students that we should explore, with BoB being just one of them.

(Also check out the other services available through the Libguides website!)