ITV has announced a new distribution and commercial partnership that will see full episodes of some of the broadcaster’s most familiar content released on YouTube.
ITV has signed up to YouTube’s partner programme; its commercial team will sell the full range of advertising opportunities around ITV and ITV Studios channels on YouTube, including content both made by ITV Studios and commissioned by ITV.
The strategy is to maximise reach and viewing opportunities by having a presence in a growing range of viewing environments alongside all of ITV’s content on ITVX and its linear channel portfolio.
“Working with YouTube provides our advertisers with even more ways to engage with audiences in premium brand-safe content from the nation’s best loved TV shows, with a wide selection of targeting options,” said Kelly Williams, Managing Director, ITV Commercial.
ITV will be showcasing the best of ITV content with full episodes across all genres from Sport to Entertainment, Documentary and Reality to Daytime and News including I’m A Celebrity, The Masked Singer, An Audience With Kylie. Olivia Marries Her Match, Ferne McCann: My Family & Me, Bullseye, You Bet! and the Soaps. ITV will continue to curate and grow the content over the upcoming months for audiences to enjoy the whole breadth of ITV’s output.
Genre based channels including ITV News and ITV Sport will be developed alongside channels for ITV Daytime shows including This Morning and Loose Women and broader show specific offerings such as Love Island or I’m A Celebrity.
ITV is also launching a dedicated YouTube sales team within ITV Commercial led by Abul Noor, who joins ITV from Channel 4 in a newly created role as Head of YouTube Sales. Advertisers will be able to target their campaigns by various factors including programmes, genre, viewer demographic, and device-type.
Alison Lomax, Managing Director, YouTube UK & Ireland, said: “ITV is one of the UK’s most beloved TV broadcasters and is home to a hugely diverse range of content – from I’m A Celebrity to Bullseye. So we are thrilled to be strengthening our partnership, which will see hundreds of hours of programmes available on YouTube for the first time. Through full episodes, clips, compilations and brand-new fan content, audiences will be able to forge even deeper connections with the shows they love.”
In addition, ITV will be creating and developing clips, compilations and fan content around its most popular brands specially tailored for the YouTube audience, as well as seasonal uploads and delving into the ITV vaults for hidden gems.
