ITV Sells Old Shows Via iTunes; Why Now?
By Robert Andrews - Tue 22 Apr 2008 04:45 AM PST
Despite the imminent arrival of Kangaroo, ITV (LSE: ITV) has just got around to striking a digital distribution deal with iTunes Store. In true long-tail fashion, some of its popular old shows (Captain Scarlet, Cold Feet, Lewis, The Saint, Brideshead Revisited and Goodnight Mr Tom) are available to own for a whopping £1.89 per episode. None of these titles are any longer available via ITV’s free 30-day catch-up feature.
It’s more much-needed indigenous content for the iTunes Stores’ languishing UK TV section. Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) switched on the UK service last August, nearly two years after it debuted in the US, with paltry domestic fare amongst the Ugly Betty, South Park and Grey’s Anatomy imports. BBC Worldwide gave it a shot in the arm in February when it started selling material outside iPlayer’s catch-up window and HIT Entertainment (of Bob The Builder and Thomas And Friends fame) joined in a month later. It’s unclear whether afficionados of shows would rather own the DVD set or the digital bits. And what is ITV’s first ever third-party digital TV sales deal looks belated - the Kangaroo JV of which it is a founding partner is set to offer both pay-for and ad-supported shows.
Posted in: Companies, Apple, ITV, Media, TV, VOD
Tags: itunes,
