ITV to broadcast simultaneously on TV and mobiles

By Steve Malone

Posted on 6 Sep 2006 at 10:59

Although the BBC and Sky transmit some pre-recorded content to mobile phones, the ITV deal with mobile network 3 is the first time simultaneous broadcasts will be available on handsets in the UK.

ITV is putting some of its most popular shows including Coronation Street, Emmerdale, The X Factor and Prime Suspect on the service. Customers will also be able to download highlights packages on demand.

The flagship ITV1 channel will be available on the 3 mobile phone network for 99p per day and the ITV Play channel for 49p per day. An unlimited subscription of eighteen channels will cost £5 per month.

Mobile operator 3 estimates that the programmes can be viewed by some 3.7 million customers via their handsets, which covers around 90 per cent of their subscribers.

Unusually for the ITV service, there will be no ads shown during the commercial breaks. Instead, the slots will be filled with trailers for other shows. Apparently, ITV does not have the rights to show adverts on mobiles, only televisions. The broadcaster not only needs the permission of the advertisers themselves to show the ads but also possibly the actors and the owners of any other copyright material included such as a music soundtrack.

Recently, Channel 4 ran into similar trouble when it began TV simulcasts over broadband in June. The broadcaster had to remove the ads from a simultaneous broadcast when it emerged that it did not have the rights to transmit them on another platform.

While it might appear to be a no-brainer for advertisers to give permission for their ads to appear on a different platform, digital rights management has been a fiercely fought market with copyright owners not only limiting the reuse of their material on existing platforms but also on ones yet to be developed.