ITVX Scores Anime, Reality Slate

ITV has scored a slate of more than 400 hours of anime and true-crime content for ITVX ahead of the streaming service’s launch later this year.

Via a pact with Glasgow-based Anime Ltd., ITVX becomes the free-to-air home of 200 hours of anime content, covering more than 20 series and films, including Escaflowne, Lupin III Part 6, Megalobox, Cowboy Bebop and Gunbuster.

A deal with CBS Reality sees the launch of True Crime UK, delivering to ITVX a slate of 200 hours of true-crime content at launch, with a further 50 hours slated for 2023. The lineup includes Descent of a Serial Killer, four series presented by Donal MacIntyre, The Real Prime Suspect, New Scotland Yard Files and Medical Detectives.

The content deals mark the first rev-share pacts for ITVX. Laura Franses, ITV’s director of content partnerships, streaming, noted, “These deals herald a new business model and opening up of the ITVX platform, enabling us to bring hundreds of hours of third-party content to new and existing ITVX users.”

Andrew Partridge, president and CEO of Anime Ltd., noted, “We could not be more pleased than to team up with ITV in our efforts to share world-class Japanese animation with new audiences and lifelong fans across the United Kingdom. With a diverse lineup of anime from some of the most impressive minds in television and film, ITVX promises to be an essential destination for anyone interested in the medium.”

Tanya Gugenheim, senior VP of business development for AMC Networks International UK, commented, “We are excited to work with ITV on this landmark deal, through which CBS Reality’s most popular true-crime programs will reach an even wider audience. Our new AVOD service True Crime UK from CBS Reality underscores our commitment to showcasing expert-led, critically-acclaimed factual entertainment to audiences in the U.K. and beyond.”