ITV’s new streaming service comes when the UK AVOD market is ripe for more competition. But the broadcaster needs to answer two important questions.

Will ITVX’s “futureproof plan” rival the likes of Disney+ and Netflix?

The content budget for ITV’s new streaming service will increase to £1.35bn as it prepares to launch before the World Cup in November.

ITV has announced it will launch the UK’s first integrated advertising and subscription-funded platform later this year.

The broadcaster’s commercial team will handle all advertising on the Google platform.

Amid a backdrop of fevered M&A chatter, 2024 was a year replete with significant moves for both global streamers and broadcasting incumbents. 

GroupM’s This Year Next Year forecast predicts strong continued ad growth, led by retail media and streaming TV. But much of the growth is being funnelled to just five Big Tech companies.

The broadcaster is anticipating a year-on-year fall due in part to fewer bookings as a result of uncertainty in the lead-up to the UK budget.

A panel at The Future of Media Manchester considered the need for TV to lean further in to data and performance to be more competitive for media budgets.

Tech is radically changing media and advertising, but our first Future of Media Manchester event reminded us that what matters most to creativity and sales is the same now as it was 200 years ago, writes the editor-in-chief.