ITV has set out plans to further monetise its ITVX streaming service, including the introduction of adverts when users pause shows and films.
Available on all major streaming platforms and Smart TVs, the service offers free access to ITV’s recent and archive titles plus a library of films and US boxsets in return for watching adverts before and during shows.
It also offers an optional ‘Premium’ subscription tier which removes adverts from ITV’s shows plus provides content from Britbox UK and Studiocanal Presents.
ITV latest market update reveals the number of subscribers to its portfolio of services – which includes ITVX – fell slightly from 1.4m in the 2022 financial year to 1.3m, a fall it partly ascribes to the removal of the ITV Catch-Up channel from Amazon’s Prime Video.
It says this number is also likely to be impacted by the forthcoming closure of the standalone BritBox UK service and its removal from Amazon’s Prime Channels.
The broadcaster had previously set at a goal of growing overall subscriber numbers to 2.5m by 2026 but has yet to see any increase since ITVX launched in December 2022.
However, it has seen an increase of around 20% in overall monthly user numbers, which now stand 12.5m, while the number of hours streamed grew by 26% to 1.5bn hours – representing good progress in meeting a target of 2bn hours by 2026.
To further monetise this growth ITV will “imminently” roll-out the introduction of adverts when users without a Premium subscription pause any content. It’s also offering brands greater opportunities to sponsor individual collections of content within the app.
For users the broadcaster has pledged to deliver “continuous improvements” to the service, and to “increase the depth and breadth of content” available.
It will also expand availability of the ITVX app, with a launch on Playstation 4 and 5 consoles due this year, and boost discoverability on existing third-party platforms to “bring users directly into ITV programmes from the main screens of their devices”.