The seven
shareholders in the broadband TV venture YouView have guaranteed to fund the service for a further five years.
YouView retains the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, BT, TalkTalk and Arqiva as equal partners; despite concerns within the BBC over its involvement in the platforms and fears that it was perceived as the property of the telcos.
However, no official figures have been given as to the sums involved in continuing to fund the venture that has cost £100m million to date.
Richard Halton, CEO, YouView said, “We are delighted that all seven shareholders have committed to the future of YouView with a 5 year term. We have achieved a significant milestone with well over 1 million homes regularly using the service and high levels of usage and satisfaction as key indicators of success for the future. The next phase for YouView involves ambitious developments across a range of devices and we’re looking forward to achieving our long term target of 10 million connected UK homes.”
One million homes now have a YouView box installed, principally through BT TV and TalkTalk. A retail box is also available.
YouView boasts over 3 million video on demand (VOD) plays achieved each week (half a million plays a day). Over half of YouView customers are viewing 4 half hour VOD TV programmes each week.