Sky and ITV recently announced a joint venture – ITV Encore. It will be ITV’s first new channel for eight years but, in a change to its other channels, will only be available on the Sky platform. It marks the first time premier ITV content will be on pay-TV.
ITV Encore promises to showcase “the best of British drama”, where viewers will be able to see ITV’s popular dramas, such as Lucan and Vera, and from 2015 it will also screen original commissions with high production values, big name actors and award-winning writers.
ITV chief executive Adam Crozier said: “A key part of our strategy is to become the most watched, most loved and most talked about family of free and pay channels for every household and every advertiser in the UK.”
The launch of the new channel is part of Crozier’s five year plan to make ITV less reliant on free-to-air advertising revenues.
He stated: “ITV Encore is right in line with our strategy of growing non-advertising revenues, while at the same time creating even greater opportunities to showcase new drama.”
ITV Encore will be available as part of Sky’s entertainment package, which includes Sky 1 and Sky Atlantic, although it’s not yet known where on the electronic programming guide (EPG) it will appear.
In addition to being available on Sky’s satellite platform, ITV Encore will also be available via the online NOW TV service. The wider four-year partnership deal, which is ITV’s biggest with a platform operator, also includes the launch of ITV catch up and archive VOD on the Sky Go and Sky+ HD platforms.
MEC Opinion
Sky has been very busy at the start of this year, after the emergence of BT Sport posed a credible threat to its pay TV dominance. Whilst BT Vision has been around for a few years, it never really took any purchase in the pay TV market. It was only when BT acquired significant football rights that everyone started taking notice.
To further strengthen its position, last year BT Sport announced it would be the only place to watch Champions League football in a few years time. It secured the rights from Sky and ITV by paying double the price competitors were willing to pay. They have also become a much bigger player in the Premier League forcing Sky to increase their offer to hold onto the majority share.
With the four year exclusive partnership with ITV, as well as renewing their contract with HBO a long time before it was due to come to an end, Sky and ITV can be said to be forming something of an alliance against the might of BT and its sizeable telephony war chest to remain the kings of free and pay TV.