ITV takes on Netflix with new streaming service Business

ITV also revealed it had bought the BBC’s 10% stake in BritBox in the UK, but entered into a long-term deal to provide programming.

The announcement came as ITV joined the cultural boycott of Russia in demanding that local versions I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here and The Voice Kids not be shown in the country following the invasion of Russia. Ukraine by Vladimir Putin. However, ITV clarified that there was no certainty that Russian broadcasters would agree to their request.

This follows the BBC’s decision on Wednesday to pull shows including Doctor Who and local spin-off Strictly Come Dancing from Russian TV networks, while promising to no longer sell the rights to broadcast its programs in Russia. .

Chief Executive Dame Carolyn McCall said ITVX would enable the broadcaster to double its streaming viewing, monthly active users and subscriber totals, while serving targeted ads to millions of viewers, combining the 35 million registered ITV Hub users and BritBox’s 733,000 subscribers. .

She said those paying for Hub+ and BritBox ad-free would see their current fees honored on the new service and did not expect a subscriber exodus.

“What’s great for BritBox subscribers is that they now have access to all the ad-free content that would be available on the ad-free version,” said Dame Carolyn.

“We plan to bring more people into the premium tier because of the value we give them…there will be 52 premieres a year on ITVX that won’t be seen anywhere else.”

The launch was accompanied by ITV’s annual results, which showed record advertising sales helped revenue rise 24% to £3.4billion for 2021.

Pre-tax profits also jumped 48% to £480m, buoyed by a strong Euro ratings performance to the Pembrokeshire Murders and The Masked Singer which led to a marginal increase in the total audience share of ITV at 22.3%.