ITV Latest To Launch Web TV Trial
ITV has become the latest broadcaster to embrace online TV technology, launching a pilot broadband TV service aimed at viewers in the Brighton and Hastings areas.
The new service will offer channels for local news, weather, local films, an entertainment guide, community video and classified advertising, accessible via www.itvlocal.tv.
The pilot service will allow ITV to expand into the lucrative local classified ad market for the first time, enabling people to buy and sell online under the ITV Local brand. The new venture, which ITV plans to roll out nationally, was publicly announced last month, along with several other commercial activities being created under the ITV Consumer brand (see ITV To Join BBC In Launch Of Free Satellite Service).
Explaining the new broadband service, Jeff Henry director of ITV Consumer, said: “Our ultimate objective is to launch a second phase of broadband TV trials in key towns and cities across the UK before rolling out on a national level.
“We believe that the £2 billion classified advertising market, which has until now been largely dominated by newspapers, represents a significant opportunity for us. Should ITV Local reach national roll out, It would be an extremely important revenue stream for us, not just something that is marginal to our existing TV advertising business.”
As part of the service viewers will be encouraged to provide and upload their own ‘Citizen’s TV’ reports, while a partnership deal with Screen South will allow young filmmakers to premiere their films on ITV Local.
The three month trial is intended to test consumer demand, with Lindsay Charlton, ITV Meridian MD and ITV Local project director explaining: “The rapid advance in the number of broadband homes in the UK, combined with improvements in streaming technology, has transformed the opportunities for local broadcasting. By combining our traditional broadcasting expertise with the opportunities of the web, we are creating something truly unique.”
Britain currently has around 8 million home broadband connections, with 250,000 new households signing up for high speed internet each month. Around 28% of people in Brighton and Hastings have access to broadband internet at home, higher than the national average of 22%, with many others having access at work.
ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com