ITV content partnership with YouTube

ITV and YouTube today announce a new distribution and commercial partnership which will see ITV joining YouTube’s partner programme enabling hundreds of hours of ITV programmes to be made available to viewers on the platform. ITV’s 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.

Partnering with YouTube is part of ITV’s strategy to deliver maximum choice to viewers, and 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 ITV’s leading channel portfolio, ensuring ITV’s content is accessible to all audiences wherever they choose to watch and enjoy it.

ITV will be showcasing the very best of ITV content on YouTube with full episodes of the biggest shows across all genres from Sport to Entertainment, Documentary and Reality to Daytime and News including I’m A Celebrity, 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.

In addition ITV will be creating and developing clips, compilations and fan content around its most popular brands specially tailored for the YouTube audience to engage even more closely with the programmes they love, as well as seasonal uploads and delving into the ITV vaults for hidden gems.

The new partnership also enables ITV to sell the advertising around its produced and commissioned programming on the platform. ITV Studios’ new digital content label, tasked with maximising the value of ITV Studios IP, Zoo 55, will manage ITV and ITV Studios YouTube presence and ITV’s commercial team will be selling advertising around ITV Studios’ channels in the UK including The Graham Norton Show, Hells Kitchen, The Voice Global and natural history focused channel, Our World.
ITV is 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.

Today’s announcement builds on ITV Studios’ recent news about the launch of Zoo 55, taking more ITV Studios brands even further into the digital space across social channels, YouTube, streaming platforms and gaming.

Kevin Lygo, Managing Director, ITV Media and Entertainment said: “This partnership is part of our continuing strategic approach to maximise reach and viewing opportunities for audiences, wherever they choose to watch, alongside the successful and thriving ITVX, and our market leading commercial TV channels.”

Kelly Williams, Managing Director, ITV Commercial, said: “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. “ITV Commercial’s sales team will be selling the inventory around all our YouTube content, and working alongside ITV Studios and Zoo 55 we will be creating opportunities for clients across a wide span of genres and programmes beyond ITV’s commissioned long form content. I’m also delighted to welcome Abul Noor to our team to spearhead this important development in our digital commercial strategy.”

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.” World Screen