NTL To Invest £25m In Digital Content

Cable company NTL has joined the growing list of media groups investing heavily in digital media, by announcing plans to spend £25 million on the development of digital content over the next five years. The group says it hopes to ‘stimulate creative talent’ with its digital content fund, which will plough in around £5 million a year for the next five years.

The fund will allow promote investment in a number of different sectors of the industry, creating a wide range range of digital programming. The initial focus will be on what NTL terms ‘enteractive’ content (interactive entertainment).

Group managing director of services, Jeremy Thorp, says: “The capacity, flexibility and interactivity of digital have barely begun to be exploited in the UK. A whole new category is emerging – we call it enteractivity. We will be aiming to encourage the independent production sector into this emerging medium. We believe that by creating this fund, we can be a catalyst in getting the UK’s talent to lead the world in this new sector.”

NTL is currently awaiting DTI clearance for its proposed merger with Cable & Wireless Communications, following recommendations passed from the Competition Commission to the trade and industry secretary Stephen Byers (see Competition Commission Reports On NTL/CWC Merger). If the merger goes ahead, the combined group will be the largest cable company in the UK, ahead of Telewest Communications.

NTL: 01252 402 000