Perdita
03-06-2009, 07:28
Millions of households who own a Freeview set-top box could lose some of its most popular channels.
ITV is considering moving its free-to-air digital channels to subscription-only channels, it has been claimed.
The broadcaster, facing the biggest financial crisis in its history, has opened talks with Sky.
Media observers have called the idea ‘madness’ as the popularity of Freeview has been credited with making the channels a success.
ITV2, which airs spin-off shows such as Britain’s Got More Talent, is the most watched non-sports UK digital channel.
Such a move would spark a backlash and the channels’ ratings could fall.
A recent Ofcom report showed 17.2million homes have Freeview, while Sky has just 9.3million subscribers.
It is understood the talks involve ITV2, the classic drama channel ITV3 and male-orientated ITV4.
ITV would pay a ‘carriage fee’ to the satellite service in return for a guaranteed cut of revenues from the channel packages Sky sells to subscribers.
The broadcaster is considering desperate options after it posted a pre-tax loss of £2.73billion last year.
It has axed 1,600 jobs since September and dramatically cut its programming budget, particularly hitting drama and daytime shows.
However, the BSkyB move would inevitably spark an angry backlash from ITV's digital viewers as they realise they face paying for something they are used to getting free.
The high-risk strategy would see the channels' ratings plummet and the fall might not be off-set by the money ITV would get for charging for them.
ITV2 has become a ratings success story with its combination of ITV1 spin-offs, for shows like Britain's Got Talent , and successful U.S. acquisitions, such as American Idol.
It has also developed its own successful programming including various programmes fronted by Katie Price and Peter Andre.
ITV previously moved away from pay-TV after the 2002 collapse of ITV Digital, its digital terrestrial television (DTT) business.
The broadcaster focused instead on building up its suite of digital channels via Freeview, the hugely successful DTT free-to-air service that replaced ITV Digital.
Despite the dire state of the advertising market, ITV has increased revenues from its digital channels business to an impressive £242million.
But bosses are looking at whether a move back to pay-TV will help reduce the dependence on advertising.
ITV would also have to do a separate deal with Virgin Media, which has 3.5million cable TV subscribers.
Bad news if this goes ahead :(
ITV is considering moving its free-to-air digital channels to subscription-only channels, it has been claimed.
The broadcaster, facing the biggest financial crisis in its history, has opened talks with Sky.
Media observers have called the idea ‘madness’ as the popularity of Freeview has been credited with making the channels a success.
ITV2, which airs spin-off shows such as Britain’s Got More Talent, is the most watched non-sports UK digital channel.
Such a move would spark a backlash and the channels’ ratings could fall.
A recent Ofcom report showed 17.2million homes have Freeview, while Sky has just 9.3million subscribers.
It is understood the talks involve ITV2, the classic drama channel ITV3 and male-orientated ITV4.
ITV would pay a ‘carriage fee’ to the satellite service in return for a guaranteed cut of revenues from the channel packages Sky sells to subscribers.
The broadcaster is considering desperate options after it posted a pre-tax loss of £2.73billion last year.
It has axed 1,600 jobs since September and dramatically cut its programming budget, particularly hitting drama and daytime shows.
However, the BSkyB move would inevitably spark an angry backlash from ITV's digital viewers as they realise they face paying for something they are used to getting free.
The high-risk strategy would see the channels' ratings plummet and the fall might not be off-set by the money ITV would get for charging for them.
ITV2 has become a ratings success story with its combination of ITV1 spin-offs, for shows like Britain's Got Talent , and successful U.S. acquisitions, such as American Idol.
It has also developed its own successful programming including various programmes fronted by Katie Price and Peter Andre.
ITV previously moved away from pay-TV after the 2002 collapse of ITV Digital, its digital terrestrial television (DTT) business.
The broadcaster focused instead on building up its suite of digital channels via Freeview, the hugely successful DTT free-to-air service that replaced ITV Digital.
Despite the dire state of the advertising market, ITV has increased revenues from its digital channels business to an impressive £242million.
But bosses are looking at whether a move back to pay-TV will help reduce the dependence on advertising.
ITV would also have to do a separate deal with Virgin Media, which has 3.5million cable TV subscribers.
Bad news if this goes ahead :(