Newspaper report reveals how the ITVX name is hated by ITV insiders and confirms tensions over cost-cutting.
- Two years after launching, surprise over ITVX cost-cutting.
- Senior staff involved in launch of the streaming service have left ITV.
- Current performance of service unclear.
“ITVX is “cr*p” and “everyone thinks it’s a porn website because of its name”.
Startling statements attibuted to ITV “bigwigs” reported in The Sunday Times reveal tensions at the UK’s biggest free-to-air broadcaster over its streaming service.
ITVX is officially two years old this month, having launched on 8th December 2022.
But reports criticising ITV’s chief executive Carolyn McCall indicate not all at ITV think ITVX is the success it needs to be as traditional broadcast TV declines and advertising income stagnates.
The Sunday Times confirmed at the weekend that ITV began cost-cutting at ITVX shortly after its launch. Subsequently, key staff instrumental in the service’s launch have left the broadcaster.
Earlier this year, ITV brought in corporate restructurers from Alvarez & Marsal to identify where savings could be made. The newspaper report suggests staff working on ITVX had hoped that they would benefit from continued investment, at the expense of the old, linear TV channels. But there was surprise when cuts came across the board.
The received wisdom among broadcasters is that their streaming services will eventually replace their traditional broadcast service. Therefore, broadcasters have spent millions improving their streaming services, adding exclusive online-first content to entice viewers. Where broadcasters have had to cut costs, it’s normally linear channels that bear the brunt.
Analysis: The state of ITVX
ITV prioritises non-subscribers
This year has seen ITVX absorb BritBox UK, the subscription streaming service once run in partnership with the BBC. The BritBox programme library form part of ITVX Premium, the paid-for add-on to ITVX.
But rather than boost its Premium offer, the broadcaster admitted in the summer that in the coming two years the company would “prioritise” its “ad-funded proposition over our pay proposition to deliver the best return.”
Subscriber numbers fell to 900,000 from 1.3 million, according to data published in the summer.
Dependance on advertising revenue is seen as a gamble, as global streaming services roll-out ad-supported options, all wanting a slice of a flat advertising market. ITV’s advantage is that it’s ad-supported tier is free, unlike say Netflix, where you’ll pay to watch adverts.
But ITV has long struggled with subscription services. Pay DTT service ITV Digital collapsed in 2002. And in the 2010s, ITV’s second venture into subscription TV – the launch of ITV Encore – ended in the channel closing after four years.
Streaming channels cut
Last December, we revealed ITVX had taken the axe to a third of its streaming-only channels. That’s in contrast with the boom in streaming channels on other platforms.
Slow to implement upgrades
ITV has also been slow to implement access to all of its regional live streams. At present, only six regional variants of ITV1 are live streamed, and these streams are not available on the ITVX mobile app or browser-based version of the service.
This means streamers don’t yet get the full ITV1 experience online as they do on regular TV.
Tech gremlins continue
ITVX was meant to herald a new start for ITV after the broadcaster struggled with technical gremlins on the poor performing ITV Hub.
However, online threads and social media comments suggest that while some of the horrors of ITV Hub are gone, many viewers still struggle with technical problems.
No new records broken recently? Performance unclear
The initial flurry of press releases charting how ITVX broke the broadcaster’s streaming records has dried up of late.
The last such press release was in June, when Euro 2024 helped drive streamers in record numbers to ITVX. There have been precious few insights or indeed concrete figures showing how ITVX has been performing this autumn.
By: Marc Thornham | image: ITVX screenshot (archive)