BT is set to offer ITV programmes on-demand as part of its digital TV service, BT Vision. The deal is the first video-on-demand (VoD) agreement ITV has signed witha UK TV platform. It also establishes BT as the first UK TV provider to offer VoD from all four terrestrial broadcasters.
The agreement is due to go live in December. Following this, subscribers to BT Vision's Replay service can click to watch recently aired shows - such as Coronation Street, Emmerdale and X Factor - alongside a range of library content - including Prime Suspect, Lewis and Hell's Kitchen.
"The deal with BT Vision will allow us to be able to reach new audiences," says ITV's director of online, Ben McOwen. "We've seen massive traffic growth across our online sites during 2008 and the consumption of ITV content across our platforms has been staggering; this deal allows us to add another string to our bow in distributing our content wider."
Prior to the deal, ITV's VoD content was only available online via ITV.com's Catch Up TV service. ITV revamped the service earlier this year, rebranding and making improvements to site navigation, in a bid to increase online viewing figures. ITV aims for digital revenue to reach USD300m a year by 2010, as part of an ongoing digital focus.
BT Vision is a subscription-based digital TV service. Users can sign up to one of three packages, costing from GBP14 to GBP20 per month, or opt to subscribe to specific channels, such as sport or film. Replay services on their own cost GBP3 per month to subscribe to.
Last week, BT said it is cutting 10,000 jobs, after posting an 11% drop in quarterly profits. Currently BT's TV service has some 340,000 customers, a tenth of its UK rival Virgin Media, reports the Financial Times. Virgin currently offers BBC VoD platform iPlayer as part of its on-demand service, as well as Channel 4 and Virgin-owned content.
