Rufus Radcliffe, MD, Streaming, Interactive & Data, ITV, has admitted it is early days for the broadcaster in the positioning of its ITVX streaming service, but that it was already learning from user feedback.Advising delegates at the DTG Summit in London that the platform has only been in existence for 147 days, he admitted that “it’s super-competitive out there. Every night and every day, it’s a battle for eyeballs,” adding that ITV was pleased at how it started, but that “there was lots to do”, and that ITV was “laser-focused” on free offerings.“Free has always been the most powerful word in marketing and ad-funded is the central way ITV has made its money since 1955,” he said. “That has been priority number one, but we also recognise that there are segments of viewers who are happy to pay, so we have an ad-free service as well. We’re still establishing the broad proposition in consumers’ minds and there’s still quite a lot to do there.” He said that there was a “good base on which to grow,” which would be a priority, but reiterated the ‘Free, Free, Free’ marketing message.He said the first thing that ITV wanted to do was create a brand that had ‘ITV’ in it, reflecting the broadcaster’s history and perceived quality. “The ‘X’ stands for surprising things as well. It’s the content you expect from ITV, and also the content you don’t expect as well. What we’re very focused on doing to drive our targets is to reach out to audiences that have a relationship with ITV. They come to ITV for our big events. They understand what we are, but we need to get them to come more often, so we’ve had to broaden our proposition.”“Viewers have been on the journey with us and as we have our road map going forward with our priorities, we are listening to feedback from our users every day on what’s working and not working. That’s a big, important cultural mindset for us at ITV. If your bring them into the organisation and co-develop with them, then you’ll be successful,” he concluded.
Copyright © 2001-2023. Advanced Television Ltd.