Comparison

BBC America vs Space Channel

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

BBC America

Stream full episodes of popular BBC America series like Killing Eve and Top Gear. Access video extras, sneak peeks, and live TV with your cable provider login. Resume watching where you left off.

Highlights
  • Full episode streaming
  • Video extras and sneak peeks
  • Live TV streaming
  • Cable/satellite provider login
  • Resume watching
  • Searchable library
  • Airplay/casting support
Features
Read full description

Get caught up in your favorite BBC America shows with full episodes, video extras, and sneak peeks at upcoming series. Log in with your cable or satellite provider to watch BBC America LIVE or full episodes of Killing Eve, Top Gear, The Graham Norton Show, and more of your favorite series. Plus you can search the library and track recently-viewed episodes and resume where you left off. Most full episodes require a cable or satellite login, though season premieres are sometimes made available with no login required. You can also sample trailers and behind-the-scenes clips. New episodes are available in-season, usually the day after broadcast. Use your iPhone or iPad to Airplay or cast to your television.

About

Space Channel

This platform delivers global news and entertainment focused on space exploration and industry. It covers commerce, policy, and community developments in low Earth orbit and beyond, offering news, movies, and live coverage.

Highlights
  • Global space news
  • Space industry coverage
  • Movies and entertainment
  • Live programming
  • Exclusive events
Features
Read full description

Space Channel is the world's premier global news and entertainment media platform dedicated to space. Connecting the stories that will inform the future of commerce, policy, entertainment and community in low Earth Orbit and beyond, Space Channel is available in more than 30 million households worldwide and explores every aspect of the genre with news, movies, exclusive events and live coverage from every sector of the global space industry. You can watch Space Channel’s live programming via Connected (Smart) TV applications as well as online at www.spacechannel.com What's inside today: — Space Economy. A live market terminal for the companies building the space industry: launch providers, satellite operators, imaging and comms. A sector-rank leaderboard, sentiment, breaking sector events, and tap-through detail with interactive charts. — UFO Division. Declassified UAP intelligence, read cold by a six-analyst panel. A daily briefing with a narrated audio read, reopened case files with consensus bars, full analyst dossiers with citations and primary source documents, and a live intelligence wire. — Lunar Command. The race back to the Moon, tracked end-to-end. A live moon-phase observer computed on-device, nation standings, program lanes for Artemis, Chang'e, and the commercial landers with milestone timelines, a daily Mooncast briefing, and a lunar news wire. — Mars Operations. The race to Mars. A live inner-solar-system orrery you can rotate and zoom, a Mars observer with distance, light-time, next opposition and season, program lanes, the active and retired rover and orbiter roster, a Mars image gallery, a daily Marscast, and a Martian wire. — Space Force. The U.S. Space Force in its own command view. The Guardian posture — satellites on orbit, Deltas, Guardians — a daily Fifth Domain intelligence brief with sourced citations, program lanes for National Security Space Launch, the Space Development Agency and more with milestone timelines, a service imagery gallery, a daily briefing, and the Space Force dispatch wire. Space Channel is built around a free membership so your mission control stays in sync across your devices. Create an account in the app to get started. Privacy first: no ads and no third-party trackers. Diagnostics are opt-in and use Apple's MetricKit — anonymous crash and performance data only, nothing personal. For the curious, the obsessed, and anyone who wants the universe in their pocket without the algorithmic shouting. Welcome aboard. More dashboards are on the way.

Screenshots

BBC America4 screens
Space Channel4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Space Channel at 57% against BBC America's 5%. Space Channel also leads on rating (4.7 vs 1.8) and ads (none vs shown). BBC America's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 6) and update cadence (monthly vs every 33 months). On price, ratings volume and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Space Channel sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. BBC America asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Space Channel holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 1.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 590 and 581 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 5% of BBC America's written reviews are positive against 57% of Space Channel's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BBC America ships an update monthly, Space Channel every 33 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
BBC America versus Space Channel: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBBC AmericaSpace Channel
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.8 (590 ratings)4.7 (581 ratings) — better
Positive reviews5.0% of reviews57.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings590 — better581
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 33 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — betteriPhone, iPad, Apple TV
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size63 MB8 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperBBC AmericaSpace Channel Inc.

Customer experience

BBC America

All ratings589 ratings
Positive17.1%
Neutral5.9%
Negative76.9%
Written reviews101 reviews
Positive5.0%
Neutral6.9%
Negative88.1%

Space Channel

All ratings581 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral3.1%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews14 reviews
Positive57.1%
Neutral7.1%
Negative35.7%

User reviews

BBC America

From 590 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ⭐ Great app for watching shows
  • 🚀 Streams in high quality
  • 👍 Straightforward and easy to use

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and glitches
  • 🤯 Frustrating navigation and controls
  • 💸 Too many ads and interruptions
  • 🤔 Inconsistent content availability

Space Channel

From 581 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 📚 Excellent educational content on space topics
  • 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family-friendly programming suitable for children
  • 🎬 Great selection of classic sci-fi movies
  • 💰 Free ad-supported streaming model
  • 📺 24/7 continuous space content available

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App frequently fails to load or open
  • 📵 Persistent offline status issues
  • ⚠️ Long-standing technical problems (months)
  • 🔔 Intrusive pop-up comments during content
  • 😤 Reliability concerns over extended period

Bugs and requests

BBC America

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Login issues and sign-in problems
  • Playback freezes and restarts randomly
  • Closed captions not working as expected
  • Casting and mirroring features broken

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add search and browse functionality
  • Improve rewind/fast-forward controls
  • Provide a paid ad-free subscription option
  • Sync playback progress across devices

Space Channel

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App won't load or open
  • Shows offline status when launched
  • Persistent crashes affecting multiple users over months
  • Pop-up comments appearing during video playback

Requested features

3 requests
  • Improved app stability and loading performance
  • Option to disable or control pop-up comments
  • Better offline functionality

In-app purchases

None

BBC America

No in-app purchases

6 purchases

Space Channel

Subscriptions2
  • Space Channel Premium Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Space Channel Premium Annual$19.991 Year
One-time4
  • Movie Purchase Tier 1$0.99
  • Movie Purchase Tier 2$1.99
  • Movie Purchase Tier 5$4.99
Show 1 more
  • Movie Purchase Tier 10$9.99

Questions

Is BBC America free?
BBC America is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Space Channel free?
Space Channel is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, BBC America or Space Channel?
Space Channel is rated higher. BBC America averages 1.8 out of 5 from 590 ratings, while Space Channel averages 4.7 from 581 ratings.
Do BBC America or Space Channel have ads?
BBC America shows ads; Space Channel does not.
Which is updated more often, BBC America or Space Channel?
BBC America ships an update monthly, and Space Channel every 33 months. Most recently, BBC America was updated on October 29, 2026 and Space Channel on November 3, 2026.

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