WHEN ITVX launched amid much fanfare at the end of 2022 bosses would have been pleased if they hit a billion streams in the first year – but they got there in just four months.
By the summer they had reached two billion streams and they are now on track to rack up triple the original goal by the end of 2023.
The unpredictable rise in popularity of ITVX has been an amazing gift for ITV as the free streaming service celebrates its first birthday tomorrow.
ITV On Demand managing director, Rufus Radcliffe said: “Of course we had big, ambitious targets for ITVX because we have a lot of content on there, but we hit a billion streams quicker than we thought, which was fantastic to see.
“It was obvious that we were delivering something that viewers really wanted and we’ve reached 2.7billion streams and we’ve got some great content coming up over Christmas, which is always a big time for streaming.
“It’s a great milestone for us, a big yardstick, and we’re thrilled. It was a really ambitious plan — but we delivered it.”
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The concept of ITVX is a relatively simple one based around four options. Viewers can watch ITV’s shows live, use it as a catch-up service, stream brand new content on the site or dip into the huge back catalogue of films and series.
The blend has allowed the channel to take on the BBC’s iPlayer, which doesn’t have as much content and also shows a smaller proportion of content debuts.
Big shows which appeared first on ITVX include Vicky McClure’s Without Sin, Nolly, starring Helena Bonham Carter as actress Noele Gordon, and Archie, featuring Jason Isaacs playing Hollywood legend Cary Grant.
ITV has also taken the opportunity to delve into new areas of comedy and factual shows, which its big rival was previously seen as dominating.
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Documentary series The Real Crown proved a sensation when it landed this year revealing untold stories about the royals and Alan Carr’s comedy biopic Changing Ends also proved popular. ITVX also taken on the big streaming giants such as Netflix and Prime Video with its stream-only content, some of which has aired on ITV too.
Rufus said: “People now love being in control of their viewing preferences, and there’s a raft of different services.
“But people are either watching live or on demand. What we have is the best of both worlds.
“Also it’s a much more personalised way to deliver content.
“We’re very proud of the fact we’re a very British service too, even though we do have some US content on there.”
ITVX services have drawn in millions to watch shows aimed at younger audiences.
That is a massive bonus for the advertising department, because ads can be directed at distinct consumers — and the 16-to-24-year-old age group is a particularly sought-after bracket.
Thankfully ITVX has had incredible viewing figures for Love Island and Big Brother, which both traditionally draw appeal to younger markets.
The latter even had a live stream from the house airing on ITVX.
Then there is that unparalleled ITV archive, which has delivered some rather unlikely hits in the form of shows which might have been deemed to have “had their day”.
Rufus said: “We’ve found a whole new generation of fans for some of our old shows like Broadchurch and Footballers’ Wives, which have come to the surface again.
“We were surprised by just how well some of our archive content did. The TV landscape we’re in at the minute, people have such a broad range of tastes that there have been surprises all over the place.
“It’s been fascinating seeing what people have been responding to, and the interesting thing with a streaming service is you can see what any one person is watching at any moment of the day.”
But the team behind ITVX are not going to rest on their laurels. Over the next 12 months they are going to introduce new initiatives such as a pause ad format, more sponsorship opportunities and regional news.
The idea is that they will secure the level of viewers as well as the income which delivers the volume and quality of content.
Rufus said: “We never take our position for granted and we continue to listen to our viewers and advertisers as to what’s next. It is a very competitive market and we never take our viewers for granted.”
ITVX has 15,000 hours of free content, a vastly scaled-up version of its predecessor, ITV Hub, which only had about 4,000 hours. And it does so much more.
So there was never any doubt its new incarnation would have a new title.
But there were a few eyebrows raised when it called itself ITVX, because some thought it might have been an X-rated channel.
In fact, the majority of people polled before they settled on the name did not have that perception because in the 21st Century it has a very different meaning
Rufus said: “You’ve got X, which used to be Twitter, and you’ve got Uber X. You know, X is a very powerful letter right now.
“For us it signified the next chapter. It means the ITV you know and love and the X bit is everything you wouldn’t expect.
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“Also X marks the spot — a destination which has everything you could possibly want.”
ITVX’S TOP 20 TV SHOWS
1 Love Island
2 I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!
3 Unforgotten
4 The Only Way Is Essex
5 Big Brother
6 The Long Shadow
7 Vera
8 The Bay
9 The Twelve
10 Irvine Welsh’s Crime
11 Midsomer Murders
12 One Tree Hill
13 Malpractice
14 I’m A Celebrity... South Africa
15 Love & Death
16 Britain’s Got Talent
17 Endeavour
18 Without Sin
19 Payback
20 The Tower
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