ONdigital To Announce Revamp, Prebble To Head Up ITV

ONdigital is to announce details of its proposed revamp this Wednesday. The pay-tv station, which is joint owned by Carlton and Granada, is expected to change its name to ITV Digital and unveil a raft of new channels.

The news will coincide with the appointment of Stuart Prebble, the current CEO of ONdigital, to the position of chief executive of ITV. He will take responsibility for the planned changes and oversee a period of consolidation within the network as a whole.

A rebranding of ONdigital has been expected since early this month in an attempt to make the brand more recognisable (see ONdigital Expected To Be Rebranded). Carlton and Granada have also begun to collaborate on online projects (see Granada And Carlton To Unite Online Assets) and further merging of their operations will take place to unite their assets under a single ITV umbrella.

Plans to scrap the ONdigital name and increase its offerings will place the pay-tv operator as a major force against rival BSkyB. Latest subscriber figures for the digital television broadcaster, due to be released on Wednesday, are expected to show the group’s growth slowing down as a result of a high churn rate, however (see ONdigital Subs Growth Hampered By High Churn).

Confirmation of these stories is expected on Wednesday.

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