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ITV , VMO2 commercial partnership

UK commercial broadcaster ITV and multiplay telco Virgin Media O2 have signed a new , long-term multi-year agreement that delivers deeper integration of ITV programming , support for IPTV , enhanced advertising capabilities and continued access to ITV ’ s range of channels and on-demand services for Virgin TV customers .

The new agreement , which lasts over five years and signals a new commercial relationship between the two companies , includes full integration of the ITV Hub platform onto Virgin TV set-top boxes . This enables viewers seamlessly to search for and watch all of ITV ’ s selection of available programmes , including more full series than ever , on-demand directly from within the ITV Hub - which currently has 34.8m registered users . A range of new features including programme start over and cloud recording will also be introduced for some Virgin TV customers in future .
This full integration of the ITV Hub platform also brings increased benefits to advertisers through Planet V , ITV ’ s innovative programmatic addressable advertising platform . Planet V allows both advertisers and agencies control over the planning , purchasing and reporting of their campaigns on ITV Hub , building audiences with first party data and augmenting those audiences with advertisers ’ own data .
Looking ahead , ITV ’ s live channels and the ITV Hub will also be available through Virgin TV ’ s upcoming IPTV service when it fully launches in early 2022 – the service will offer a seamless app and streaming-based experience powered by the company ’ s leading ultrafast and gigabit connectivity . Building further upon the benefits to advertisers under this agreement , ITV will also be able to offer linear addressable
“ This extended and enhanced commercial agreement brings benefits to both ITV ’ s viewers and advertisers .” advertising via IP delivery through the Planet V platform .
wide
ITV ’ s
range of programmes and content across various genres will receive enhanced prominence across all
Virgin TV interfaces , and bespoke curations of content will be made available within the catch-up sections of the provider ’ s platform . This will help viewers easily discover , access and watch the latest and greatest ITV shows all in one place .
“ This extended and enhanced commercial agreement brings benefits to both ITV ’ s viewers and advertisers and the work that Virgin Media O2 is doing to develop its IP proposition advantages both those groups ,” commented Carolyn McCall , CEO of ITV . “ As Planet V continues to grow at scale , we ’ re able to deliver addressable advertising via the fully integrated ITV Hub on the great platform that Virgin Media O2 continues to evolve via both on-demand and linear viewing . Plus our viewers are able to access ITV ’ s fantastic range of programming more easily than ever before with an enhanced viewing experience .”
“ We have been a longstanding partner of ITV for many years and this new agreement further cements our relationship ,” added Lutz Schüler , CEO of Virgin Media O2 . “ It paves the way for future product innovation and delivers more for our customers and our business , as well as enhancing the toolkit available to advertisers .”
“ Our focus in TV is all about providing incredible entertainment to our customers in a seamless way underpinned by the very best connectivity . As we continue to invest and innovate , having ITV ’ s vast selection of must-watch programming fully integrated and easily accessible plays a huge part in giving our customers a fantastic experience both now and in the future .”
FTTH Council calls for fibre take-up boost
The European Commission
recently published its Digital
Economy and Society Index
2021 ( DESI ) which tracks
the progress made in EU
Member States in digital
competitiveness in the areas
of human capital , broadband
connectivity , the integration
of digital technologies
by businesses and digital
public services .
The FTTH Council Europe
welcomes that the 2021
DESI has been adjusted to
reflect major policy initiatives
including the 2030 Digital
Compass : the European Way
for the Digital Decade . This
is a significant step towards
consistency as it will make results more comparable over the years and improve the accuracy of the figures .
On connectivity , the European Commission highlights an improvement in ‘ very high-capacity networks ’ ( VHCN ), which are now available in 59 per cent of the households in the EU , up from 50 % a year ago . These data are also consistent with the acceleration of the market foreseen by the FTTH Council Europe ’ s market forecasts 2021-2026 , which report that full fibre is expected to be available to 80 % of European households within five years .
This positive trend should not overshadow that the
connectivity issue is now transferring to the end-users ’ perspective . With around 45 % take-up today , the FTTH Council Europe calls on policy-makers to consider some measures to maximise the potential from full fibre investments .
• Copper switch-off : Plans for the retirement of copper are essential as copper switch-off will also play a major role in the uptake of VHCN and full fibre in particular . This transition needs to be prepared so that no citizen or business is left behind
• The digitalisation of public services is crucial as recognised by the European Commission ’ s four cardinal points .
Combined with demandside measures such as vouchers , it can be a strong incentive for citizens to take up full fibre services
• Fulfilling the objectives of the twin ( green and digital ) transitions is also likely to have an impact on full fibre take-up . Fibre is the most futureproof and energy-efficient technology and is key to align the digital and sustainability agendas Therefore the FTTH Council Europe believes that policy-makers should give consideration to changing relevant public policies away from technology neutrality to a principle that is clearly full fibre positive .
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