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Can you count on ITV?

Posted in Media, Digital, Branwell Johnson, Latest reporters' blogs September 12th, 2007 by Branwell Johnson

With a flourish and Churchillian ring of confidence Michael Grade has unveiled his vision of the future for ITV and it looks to rest on enhanced content creation and exploitation – particularly online.

There’s a focus on streamed television and ITV believes that its itv.com offering is ahead of the game. It believes that it is in a good position to grab revenues from advertiser-funded video and Grade said “particular priority is being given to our sales of individually targeted ads into online video streams.”

Grade has emphasised the importance of syndicating on-demand content to platform operators and earning licence fees and ad revenues online. He has also flagged up new online businesses, such as online gaming and the development of online communities. And he said that there will be more investment in ITV Local with national roll out to be completed in November – good golly miss molly, can there be a more anxious time to be in local newspaper ad sales?

But the big question for the marketing and media industry must be trading. If this bold new world of digital revenue streams is to come to pass then the archaic measurement systems that frustrate and befuddle media agencies and ITV’s own sales house are going to have to be ditched – and that’s a challenge apart from the CRR issue.

If there are to be sales packages for programming being shown via a myriad of access points – from live video streaming to downloadable archived shows - then robust measurement figures that can be combined into navigable data must be developed. And a quantum leap from the emphasis on number of eyeballs to quality/receptivity of audience may also come into this. No word on this issue yet from Grade, maybe it’s one of the first questions to ask the new managing director of sales and marketing?
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