ITV’s new free streaming service, ITVX, which replaces catch-up service ITV Hub, will finally launch on December 8, with a pledge to provide a more personalised advertising experience – just in time for a seasonal binge of more than 10,000 hours of programming, past and present.
The service will be rolling out across devices and platforms in the coming weeks, and include historic and current ITV dramas, as well as documentaries, films and boxsets.
ITV claims this will be the first streaming service in the UK to offer viewers access to free content with ads and an ad-free paid subscription, in one place. Paying subscribers will also have access to BritBox UK.
It will live stream events, from live sport to Love Island, as they are broadcast on ITV’s channels and will also offer exclusive themed channels in line with viewer preferences and popularity.
These “pop-up” channels will give a scheduled experience through a streaming service, with viewers able to choose where in the schedule they join.
All of ITV’s channels will be included, such as ITV2 and ITV3, as well as additional themed channels (known as FAST channels), and a dedicated news section.
Back in March, when the service was first announced, ITV said it would offer advertisers sponsorship packages on the themed channels; 20 at launch, including Hell’s Kitchen US, True Crime, The Oxford Detectives, 90s Favorites and The Chase channels.
Criteo senior vice president of partnerships Matthew Hogg commented: “ITVX signals a move into the future, one that will introduce a wealth of new dramas alongside a personalised advertising experience; ITV Hub currently has 4,000 hours of content while ITVX will have around 10,000 hours at launch. It’s an impressive ambition and one that will only be achievable through successful and targeted advertising spend.
“Viewability will be key metric for the digital advertising demand headed in ITVX’s direction. If ads fail to keep users entertained in between programmes, ad breaks could single-handedly disrupt our love affair with binge watching TV series.
“However, more demand gives ITVX a chance to address one of the greatest bugbears of traditional TV advertising – the repetitiveness of ads – by adding far greater variety and the real chance to connect audiences with the particular brands they care about.”
Dramas available on launch day will include a six-part cold war drama A Spy Among Friends (pictured), starring Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce; teen drama Tell Me Everything; and period drama The Confessions of Frannie Langton, starring Karla-Simone Spence, Sophie Cookson and Patrick Martins.
Following on from launch day, at least one flagship show will launch on ITVX per week. Litvinenko, starring David Tennant and Mark Bonnar, will launch on December 15, while family drama Riches, starring Deborah Ayorinde and Hugh Quarshie, will launch on December 22, alongside natural history documentary A Year on Planet Earth.
ITV chief executive Carolyn McCall said: “We’re really excited to launch ITVX, with more content available than ever before, and a whole range of exclusive commissions. ITVX is powered by a significant, streaming-first commissioning budget, and an integrated technology and data platform providing a high quality, and more personalised viewing and advertising experience, that will continue to evolve in 2023 and beyond.”
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