ITV CEO Carolyn McCall delivered a MIPCOM keynote today in which she discussed the importance of having an integrated production-distribution business and outlined how the media giant is upping the investment in its multiplatform ITV Hub.<\/p>\n
McCall took on leadership of the U.K.\u2019s largest commercial broadcaster at the start of this year, joining the group from EasyJet.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have\u00a0to make\u00a0sure we have a relationship with the viewer,\u201d said McCall on her strategic priorities. \u201cThe integrated producer model we have\u2014where we do U.K. production and broadcast\u2014is a very potent competitive advantage. We\u2019ve strengthened that. We\u2019ve added more programming, we\u2019ve made marketing investments, we\u2019re investing in data tech analytics. We\u2019re creating a vision that is about directly connecting with the consumer. We have communities of fans who want to have deep relationships with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
ITV Studios continues to generate strong returns, McCall said, noting that \u201cit\u2019s not dependent on any one business. It\u2019s a quality portfolio business. And we\u2019re augmenting that. We\u2019re still looking for strong talent deals. ITV Studios is an unbelievably important part of what we do. But we wouldn\u2019t be making the right shifts, given the world around us, if we weren\u2019t also looking at doing something much more directly with the consumer.\u201d<\/p>\n
McCall was asked about Endemol Shine Group, following ITV\u2019s recent announcement that it wasn\u2019t going to make a bid for the company. \u201cWe did not say it wasn\u2019t a good strategic fit with us; actually it\u2019s an obvious strategic fit. And our shareholders would have expected us to look at it seriously. We came out and said we\u2019re not putting in a bid because of a multitude of factors. That\u2019s also not to say that we wouldn’t be interested in future M&A. We would have to do it in a very rational and disciplined way. 2010 to 2015 was doubling Studios to get it to a scale business. This is now about rational, disciplined acquisitions and backing talent.\u201d<\/p>\n
McCall said that ITV is investing \u00a360 million into the ITV Hub\u2014which features ITV content on a catch-up basis\u2014over the next three years. \u201cIt will become much more of a destination. There will be more personalization, recommendations; it will have a much richer user experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
The increased viewing on the Hub is not cannibalizing TV ad revenues, McCall added. \u201cTen years ago you could get 70 percent reach in Britain by using ITV. Today you can get 70 percent reach by using ITV and Hub. You see no diminution in reach. If you\u2019re an advertiser that wants quality, brand-safe, simultaneous reach, the only place to really do that is ITV, with VOD and the channels.\u201d<\/p>\n
AVOD is, for ITV, business as usual, McCall said. As far as its SVOD plans go, McCall rejected the idea that ITV would launch a \u201cBritish Netflix.\u201d There is an opportunity for a new SVOD offering in the market, she added\u2014as long as it is \u201cdistinctive and good value.\u201d It is expected to roll out in 2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ITV CEO Carolyn McCall delivered a MIPCOM keynote today in which she discussed the importance of having an integrated production-distribution business and outlined how the media giant is upping the investment in its multiplatform ITV Hub.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":8803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[1295,146],"class_list":["post-8802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-carolyn-mccall","tag-itv"],"yoast_head":"\n