ITV to launch broadband TV
ITV is going to launch broadband television by end of March 2007 following an investment of £20 million in the project.
The new service, which will transmit ITV1 live and make the last 30-days programmes available to view online, has attracted heavy investment despite firm convictions that few people will want to watch Television online.
Rather than representing a key media channel in itself, the new broadband TV service is instead being developed as a means to improve ITV’s web presence, the relative absence of which has attracted lots of criticism for the commercial broadcaster.
Annelies van den Belt, managing director of broadband at ITV and formerly director of new media at The Daily Telegraph, was quoted by the Times saying: ‘Until now ITV has just been exploring new media by providing content for mobile phones.
Now it is coming up with a product that sits in heart of the business and should become part of the commissioning process.
ITV’s online traffic data continues to lag behind the BBC, which attracted 16.4 million visitors in November. This compared with ITV’s 4.3 million visitors during the same time.
ITV.com is expected to focus primarily on mainstream entertainment programmes such as The X-Factor and Coronation Street, rather than programming with more niche appeal such as children’s material.
India’s Bsnl broadband has some similar plans too
However, the commercial broadcaster’s assertion that consumers will be reluctant to pay for most programmes means that most will be available on a streamed basis, although Champions League football matches will be subject to a fee.