ITV unveils ‘more than TV’ strategy

UK commercial broadcaster ITV has unveiled plans to expand its direct-to-consumer business and launch additional SVoD services.

Carolyn McCall

ITV said a key focus of its strategy was to become “more than TV,” with plans to increase its OTT offerings in addition to the ad-free ITVHub+ service, which costs £3.99 (US$5.30) a month.

The broadcaster, which reported in its half-year report yesterday that its viewing share had risen by 9% over the past six months, said subscriptions to its nascent SVoD platform had risen by 500% over the past year.

“We see an opportunity to create an SVoD service in the UK on the back of our brands, our content and significant cross-promotion capability,” the company said in a statement.

“Our research has shown that around 25% of people who already subscribe to a service are ‘very likely’ to subscribe to more SVoD services in the next two years,” it continued, adding that UK consumers are “willing to pay for high-quality British television that they can watch on their terms – accessible anywhere, anytime and without ads.”

ITV added that it would add more functions to the service, allowing greater personalisation, and would make its ad-supported on-demand service ITV Hub a core part of its offering.

The broadcaster aims to increase registered users from 25 million to 30 million over the next three years.

ITV CEO Carolyn McCall said the company was “well placed” to take advantage of viewers watching more content and that the broadcaster “will be more than TV.”

“It will be a structurally sound integrated producer-broadcaster where we aim to maintain total viewing and increase total advertising revenue; it will be a growing and profitable content business, which drives returns; and it will create value by developing and nurturing strong, direct consumer relationships, where people want to spend money on a range of content and experiences with a really trusted brand.”

The broadcaster reported overall external revenue up 8% at £1.59bn, with ad revenue of £890m, up 2% on this time last year. ITV Studios’ revenue rose 16% to £803m.