Advanced Television

ITV looks to micro payments as ratings hit record low

July 3, 2009

Speaking at the Future of Broadcasting event, Carolyn Fairbairn, director of group development and strategy at ITV, said the broadcaster viewed micropayments as “very interesting”.

She said charging for content was an area of focus for the broadcaster, although she had no details how this might work. “We will continue to look for ad-supported models, absolutely,” she said. “However, the idea people will pay is something we should look at and we do. We need some kind of payment system and then we will see if it flourishes.”

Dan Marks, who until this week was chief executive of BT Vision, said broadcasters needed to examine new funding models to sustain themselves. Marks, now a consultant, called on broadcasters to “cooperate” more with communications providers such as telephone groups like BT and Virgin Media who were evolving into content players.

Meanwhile, ITV1 suffered its worst ratings in its 54-year history as it slipped to an all-hours audience share of just 16.1%. According to unconsolidated ratings figures, ITV1 pulled in an all-hours live individuals share of 16.1% for the week ending on Sunday 28 June. This compares with a previous worst ever week low of 16.13%, recorded three weeks ago.

Categories: Advertising, Articles, Broadcast