ITV and YouTube have announced a new distribution and commercial partnership…
The deal will see ITV joining YouTube’s partner programme enabling hundreds of hours of ITV programmes to be made available to viewers on the platform. ITV’s commercial team will sell the full range of advertising opportunities around ITV and ITV Studios channels on YouTube, including content both made by ITV Studios and commissioned by ITV.
“Partnering with YouTube is part of ITV’s strategy to deliver maximum choice to viewers, and to maximise reach and viewing opportunities by having a presence in a growing range of viewing environments alongside all of ITV’s content on ITVX and ITV’s leading channel portfolio, ensuring ITV’s content is accessible to all audiences wherever they choose to watch and enjoy it.” – ITV
ITV will be showcasing the very best of ITV content on YouTube with full episodes of the biggest shows across all genres from Sport to Entertainment, Documentary and Reality to Daytime and News.
Genre based channels including ITV News and ITV Sport will be developed alongside channels for ITV Daytime shows including This Morning and Loose Women and broader show specific offerings such as Love Island or I’m A Celebrity.
In addition ITV will be creating and developing clips, compilations and fan content around its most popular brands specially tailored for the YouTube audience to engage even more closely with the programmes they love, as well as seasonal uploads and delving into the ITV vaults for hidden gems.
Alison Lomax, Managing Director, YouTube UK & Ireland: “ITV is one of the UK’s most beloved TV broadcasters and is home to a hugely diverse range of content – from I’m A Celebrity to Bullseye. So we are thrilled to be strengthening our partnership, which will see hundreds of hours of programmes available on YouTube for the first time. Through full episodes, clips, compilations and brand-new fan content, audiences will be able to forge even deeper connections with the shows they love.”
The new partnership also enables ITV to sell the advertising around its produced and commissioned programming on the platform. ITV Studios’ new digital content label, tasked with maximising the value of ITV Studios IP, Zoo 55, will manage ITV and ITV Studios YouTube presence and ITV’s commercial team will be selling advertising around ITV Studios’ channels in the UK including The Graham Norton Show, Hells Kitchen, The Voice Global and natural history focused channel, Our World.
ITV is launching a dedicated YouTube sales team within ITV Commercial led by Abul Noor, who joins ITV from Channel 4 in a newly created role as Head of YouTube Sales. Advertisers will be able to target their campaigns by various factors including programmes, genre, viewer demographic, and device-type.
Today’s announcement builds on ITV Studios’ recent news about the launch of Zoo 55, taking more ITV Studios brands even further into the digital space across social channels, YouTube, streaming platforms and gaming.
Kevin Lygo, Managing Director, ITV Media and Entertainment:
“This partnership is part of our continuing strategic approach to maximise reach and viewing opportunities for audiences, wherever they choose to watch, alongside the successful and thriving ITVX, and our market leading commercial TV channels.”
