'Coronation Street' goes 'on-demand' in US
ITV Global Entertainment has today announced a deal with Amazon Video On Demand which will see the UK's longest running soap Coronation Street made available on-demand in the US.
200 episodes of the Weatherfield soap, which aired between Christmas 2007 and July 2008, will be rolled out by the end of the month, while a further 20 episodes will be added to the collection every month thereafter.
It is envisaged that US viewers, who will be able to buy the content for 50c per episode, will be viewing episodes of Corrie within one week of UK transmission by the autumn.
John Norman, senior vice president of International Sales at ITV Global Entertainment in the US, said: "We'll be working closely with Amazon to effectively schedule new episodes, bringing US fans in line with the latest UK storylines by autumn 2009. The debut perfectly compliments our ITV catalogue on Amazon.com, which proudly showcases the very best in UK programming."
Jason Binks, vice president of Digital and New Media at ITV Global Entertainment, added: "This is a superb collaboration and one that we're all delighted with. The deal is a great example of our multi-channel approach, strategically bringing our much loved quality programming to a global audience."
It is understood that if there is a demand for such a move, all archived episodes from December 1960 may be made available in the same way.
ITV programming first appeared in the US via Amazon Video On Demand last year, with 450 hours of the network's programming having already been made available. Shows include Cold Feet and Inspector Morse, among others.
