* Largest Ever Television On Demand Audience Now Able to Watch ITV Shows * Virgin Media TV Subscribers Offered On Demand HD Programmes as Well as Additional Access Via the Internet
LONDON, Jan. 8, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ITV plc (LSE:ITV) and Virgin Media Inc. (Nasdaq:VMED) today announce a deal to make some of the nation's favourite television shows available on demand to Virgin Media's digital TV subscribers with ITV Player, ITV's on demand catch up service.
The agreement will give ITV its largest ever potential on demand audience, with Virgin Media's 3.5 million TV customers able to view over 40 hours of top quality programming from ITV1, 2, 3 and 4 each week. Popular shows such as Coronation Street and Emmerdale will all be made available for seven days after being broadcast as part of Virgin Media's free Catch up TV* service.
Virgin Media's viewers will also be able to choose from 500 hours** of award-winning ITV comedies, documentaries and dramas, all ready to watch at any time on demand. This collection of some of the best of British television will be available as part of Virgin Media's vast library of programmes which sit within its TV Choice section. A selection of ITV's High Definition (HD) programming will also be available on demand, adding to Virgin Media's growing and popular list of HD content as part of the UK's leading TV on demand service.
In addition, Virgin Media and ITV have also agreed that Virgin Media TV subscribers will be able to watch ITV content online via their computers, providing further viewing options.
Virgin Media has pioneered on demand television in the UK with more than half of its TV customers regularly using this service. Total views of all on demand programmes exceeded 357 million by the end of the first nine months of 2008 and averaged 45 million views each month in the third quarter of last year.
ITV has also seen a rapid rise in users for its on demand offering, with the average number of plays per month more than doubling since the end of the first quarter of 2008. The top three ITV shows in 2008 were Coronation Street, The X Factor and Emmerdale in that order.
Malcolm Wall, CEO of Content at Virgin Media, said: "ITV makes some of the country's most loved TV programmes so we're delighted to be able to offer so many of them to our customers. We already have the largest and best collection of entertainment available on demand and adding this vast amount of quality content will make our TV offering even more compelling."
Ben McOwen Wilson, Director of Online at ITV, said: "Our ambition is to make our content as widely available for audiences. We are thrilled to be announcing this deal with Virgin Media at a very exciting time for ITV. We know Virgin Media's customers consume a lot of content on demand, and we are confident that with the massive appetite and growth of on demand content across our online sites during 2008 this deal will allow a new wave of viewers to enjoy our content; in a time when the way our audiences watch TV continues to transform."
Notes to Editors:
* Virgin Media's Catch up TV already includes the pick of the last week's best television from the BBC, Channel 4, E4, More4, Bravo, Living and Virgin1.
** Virgin Media will show 500 hours of ITV content within its TV Choice section every year.
About ITV Online
ITV Online incorporating itv.com, ITV Local, ITV Mobile, ITV Interactive and Friends Reunited is ITV's new media division, established to drive new revenue streams and offer innovative and entertaining content designed to enhance viewers' on-air experience. itv.com was re-launched in 2007 and offers ITV channels streamed online, plus access to further ITV programming, clips and exclusive content. ITV Local offers local information, news and services and has launched dedicated channels in 2008 including travel and crime. Both itv.com and itvlocal.com are primarily funded by online advertising.
About ITV Player
The ITV Player can be found from the ITV.com home page navigation bar and allows users to view a selection of the best ITV shows from the last 30 days. Users can find out what everyone else is watching in the Top 10 and search for their favourite show with an alphabetical search or drop down menu. ITV.com hosts an average 620 hours of catch-up content and 340 hours of archive material at any one time, as well as 50 hours of short clips.
About Virgin Media
With almost 10 million customers, Virgin Media is the UK's first quad-play provider of TV, broadband, phone and mobile.
Virgin Media is the largest residential broadband provider in the country, delivering next-generation internet access with ultrafast speeds of up to 50Mb using its unique fibre-optic cable network.
Virgin Media has the UK's most advanced TV on demand service and is the only TV platform to carry BBC iPlayer. Virgin Media was the first to launch a High Definition TV service and offers a high-specification, HD-ready V+ personal video recorder.
Virgin Media is the second-largest provider of pay TV and home phone in the UK and the largest virtual mobile network operator.
Virgin Media also owns two content businesses - Virgin Media Television (VMTV) and sit-up. VMTV owns seven entertainment channels, including Virgin1, Living, Bravo, Challenge and Trouble - and is a 50% joint partner with the BBC in UKTV which consists of ten channels including Dave, G.O.L.D., Watch and Alibi. sit-up runs retail TV channels bid tv, price-drop tv and speed auction tv.
For more information, go to www.virginmedia.co.uk.