ITVX boasts a strong start as the World Cup attracts new viewers in droves
>
Qatar World Cup boosts ITVX debut as broadcaster reveals 55% increase in streaming and strong digital growth
- ITV said the number of digital users rose by about two-thirds in the service’s first month
- Excluding the World Cup, ITV said underlying streaming numbers were up 29%
- The broadcaster plans to spend £160 million on exclusive content for ITVX this year
<!–
<!–
<!–<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
The launch of ITV’s new streaming service ITVX has boosted ratings as Britons geared towards watching international football and original drama series.
ITV told investors on Friday it achieved a 55 per cent increase in streaming hours year-over-year in the first month after ITVX went live on December 8.
Digital users also increased by about two-thirds, many of whom saw the England football team’s World Cup quarter-final against France, as well as Argentina’s heart-stopping penalty victory a week later in the final.
Target: Many Britons watched FIFA World Cup matches last month on ITV’s new streaming platform, ITVX, including England’s quarter-final defeat to France
Not counting the boost from the tournament, ITV’s chief executive, Dame Carolyn McCall, claimed that underlying streaming numbers were still growing by 29 per cent.
She noted strong interest among viewers, especially those from harder-to-reach demographics, for the platform’s commissioned launch titles.
One of the shows released exclusively on ITVX last month was A Spy Among Friends, a spy series based on the life of Kim Philby, starring Guy Pearce as the Soviet double agent and Damian Lewis as friend Nicholas Elliott.
Other productions included the historical drama The Confessions of Frannie Langton; Litvinenko, starring David Tennant; and four-part psychological thriller Without Sin.
McCall added: “With over 15,000 hours of programming and movies on ITVX, our new service is a destination for discovery, engaging users as they discover the quality and depth of our content.
“ITVX has also landed very well with advertisers who see the added value of the scale and reach of audiences they can now target in a high-quality, brand-safe and measurable streaming environment.”
The new video-on-demand platform replaced ITV Hub, which regularly received complaints about buffering and sound quality issues, particularly when broadcasting popular live sporting events.
Like its predecessor, Brits can watch programs on ITVX for free, but if they don’t want to see ads, they’ll have to pay £5.99 a month.
ITV plans to spend £160m on exclusive content for the service this year and at least £800m over four years, aiming to expand digital revenue to at least £750m a year.
It believes the affordability and quality of content on ITVX will make it a viable competitor to US streaming giants such as Netflix, AppleTV and Disney+.
Still, many analysts believe the creation of a new media platform is a big gamble for ITV given the extinction of the pandemic-induced streaming boom and the high investment required to attract enough subscribers to become profitable.
Russ Mold, director of investment at AJ Bell, said the company “will need more than one strong month to overcome market skepticism about the ITVX venture and the significant content costs associated with it.”
“ITV has had to deal with the shift from an analogue to digital TV world and can’t afford for ITVX not to work.”
ITV shares were up 1.2 percent at 78.5p just before trading closed on Friday.