LONDON, UK — Claiming almost 36 million registered users, UK broadcaster ITV’s new ITVX viewing platform would count almost half the country’s population in its database.
Coupled with its programmatic targeting system Planet V, that gives the broadcaster a scaled foundation for a new era of UK targeted-TV-ad growth.
But, in this video interview at Beet.TV’s London summit in December, Lara Izlan, Director of Data Strategy, ITV, said the data is about more than ad targeting.
More than targeting
“When we talk about data in the context of media, the context of advertising, we go immediately to targeting and advertising measurement,” Izlan says.
“But what we are doing currently is taking a much more holistic view to data enablement for TV.
“We’re looking at how data can inform the entire viewer value chain, from how we make decisions around the content that we’re commissioning, how we use data to really supercharge our own marketing efforts so that we can drive the audiences and the engagement. We’re applying data to the actual experience that viewers have with our product.
“So how can we use data to ensure that when those users arrive with us through the marketing campaigns that we’re doing so brilliantly, how are they finding what they what they want to watch when they’re actually on our product?”
X (and V) mark the spot
On December 8, ITV relaunched ITV Hub, its own cross-platform “BVOD” (broadcaster-VOD) service, as ITVX.
The relaunch doesn’t just give ITVX a more appealing modern interface. It also threads archive shows into a series of new “live” channels, alongside its core live-linear simulcasts and ongoing VOD. In other words, ITVX sees ITV emerging beyond VOD, becoming a “FAST” (Free, Ad-Supported TV) player, in the modern parlance.
It also brings a commitment to invest £180 million in new programming specifically for the platform.
Meanwhile, ITV has gained traction with ad agencies who are using its Planet V to buy ITVX inventory in programmatic fashion – a step-change for a linear broadcaster.
Viewers in focus
Still, Izlan knows a viewer focus is paramount.
“We tend to think about the viewer and their data as a data source in this data economy that we’re trying to build,” she says.
“But what I think is, if we’re going to create a more sustainable opportunity in this space, we need to bring the viewer, the consumer, into the equation as a beneficiary.
“They need to be able to see the benefit of providing that data into this economy by seeing what value they derive from it.”
You’re watching “Looking Ahead: TV in Europe 2025” a Beet.TV Leadership Summit presented by Magnite & Publica, in partnership with egta. All videos were filmed on-site at our event at London’s Soho Hotel. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
