UK’s commercial TV operator ITV, which just emerged from a bruising control battle between NTL and BSkyB, has snagged Annelies van den Belt as the new managing director of broadband at ITV, and says will invest about $40 million in a broadband service that will launch by March end. This is Annelies’ third major new media position in as many years...she was the head of Times Online (UK) until 2005, after which she joined head of Telegraph’s online effort. She left there in November last year.
ITV has also appointed Tanya Lidstone as head of customer experience and Steve White as head of technology while a new team of content specialists is also being recruited.
In the new service, ITV will transmit ITV1 live and make available the last 30 days of TV to watch online. The revamped ITV.com is expected to emphasise entertainment programmes, such as Coronation Street and The X Factor, rather than news or children’s material. Most of the content will be available free, and it will feature commercial breaks and advertisements. Some additional details in this Independent story.
Last month Channel 4 became the first broadcaster to start showing its entire output online, and the BBC is expected to launch its iPlayer formally in the coming months.
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