ITV Enters U.K. Pact with AwesomenessTV

LONDON: ITV and AwesomenessTV have inked a deal that will see ITV2 and the ITV Hub acquiring exclusive U.K. premiere rights for the youth brand’s long-form premium series.

ITV will create a new extended weekend program for ITV2 starting early next year. The show will be hosted by young talent and will feature the acquired scripted and unscripted AwesomenessTV series. For the first year of the agreement, ITV has acquired 75 hours of AwesomenessTV shows for both the ITV2 program and ITV Hub. This will rise to 100 hours in 2018. The ITV Hub will have the exclusive online U.K. premiere of several AwesomenessTV series, marking the first time ITV’s on-demand service will have exclusive original content.

The deal also sees AwesomenessTV and ITV Studios teaming up to co-produce scripted and unscripted programming for ITV2. ITV Studios Global Entertainment will distribute the new youth-focused original series in international markets around the world.

Simon Pitts, the managing director of online, pay-TV and interactive at ITV, said: “AwesomenessTV has quickly grown into one of the most successful youth content companies in the world. The team has very successfully combined the best of YouTube with high-quality production values to create great TV shows. We’re delighted to be partnering with AwesomenessTV across ITV to produce, broadcast and distribute new shows for ITV2, the ITV Hub and international markets.”

Brian Robbins, founder and CEO of AwesomenessTV, added: “AwesomenessTV is a global brand, and this deal reinforces the value of our premium scripted series with our audience as we expand locally into all the markets of the world. ITV is a media powerhouse in the U.K., and we’re thrilled to be partnering with them to bring our hit shows to their networks.”