362% video surge for re-launched ITV websites
20/06/2008
Video views on ITV.com and ITV Local grew by 21% month-on-month for the last five months, with 12 million video views in May alone. On Sunday 1stJune, the day after ITV’s hit entertainment finale show for Britain’s Got Talent, a staggering 1.1 million video views were recorded across ITV.com, and over 8,000 hours of video watched on the Britain’s Got Talent site alone. There were 6 million video views in total during the series transmission period *.
The figures announced by Jeff Henry, MD of ITV Consumer, also show that average daily unique users to ITV.com have doubled since the site’s re-launch, reaching a total of unique users for ITV.com in May of 6.8 million, while ITV Local received 1 million unique users.
Since launch in August 2007, ITV.com combined with ITV Local has received 69 million video views and there has been a 362% increase in usage for video across ITV’s portfolio of sites.
ITV.com alone has seen a four-fold rise in video views since August which represents an average increase of 53% month-on-month.
ITV Local had 4 million video views in May alone. The four regions where video has taken off the most are Meridian – 16%; Central – 15%; Anglia – 11%; London 11%. In total, ITV Local has grown on average by 18% month on month since the start of the year with the London region experiencing the most growth of 50% between April and May.
Viewing of catch-up content has been evenly spread across the genres, with key titles from Soaps, Drama, Entertainment and Comedy all featuring in the most popular videos being watched. Whilst schedule regular Coronation Street leads the list of all time most viewed with 5 million views, the top 10 includes Dancing on Ice, Benidorm, Headcases and Secret Diary of a Call Girl.
Viewing numbers for individual episodes of shows that feature in the top 10 is in the hundreds of thousands per week. Although in aggregate, the Soaps and other series have already reached millions of views in total. However Euro 2008 is the most popular programme in June so far, overtaking Coronation Street which usually dominates the top spot. Currently Euro 2008 has had just over half a million video views and since the start of the tournament it has averaged 51,000 views per day.
Below are the top 10 shows for full length catch-up:
Total Programme Views
Coronation Street
Dancing on Ice Series 3
Emmerdale
Benidorm
Britain's Got Talent
This Morning
Gossip Girl
Secret Diary of a Call Girl
Headcases
Pushing Daisies
Below are the top 10 single episodes viewed – Headcases had just shy of 140,000:
Single Episode Views
Headcases
Secret Diary
Jeremy Kyle & David Platt
Benidorm
Britain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent
Gossip Girl
Benidorm
This Morning - Gastric Band
Britain's Got Talent
The phenomenal increase in appetite by consumers for video in the last six months can be highlighted best through the comparison of Britain’s Got Talent 2008 with the X Factor 2007. Britain’s Got Talent saw a staggering 417% increase in video views on the final day than X Factor received.
Jeff Henry, MD of ITV Consumer said: “We are extremely pleased and excited by the rapid growth in video consumption across both ITV.com and ITV local. The growth in consumer demand for video was anticipated and stimulated by the relaunch of our sites last year which provide a fantastic rich user experience in a world class environment with exciting and unique content. We are now seeing our audience telling us their linked experience is incredibly attractive and we will continue to build on this with new developments in the months to come. Our turnaround plan sets out our ambition to significantly grow our online assets and these numbers reaffirm our belief in the potential of this area.”
Ends
* TX - 12 April – 31 May
For further information, please contact Sophy Silver from the ITV Consumer Press Office on sophy.silver@itv.com.
Notes to Editors
ITV Consumer incorporating itv.com, ITV Local, ITV Mobile, ITV Interactive and Friend’s Reunited is ITV’s new media division, established to drive new revenue streams and offer innovative and entertaining content designed to enhance viewers’ on air experience. itv.com was re-launched in 2007 and offers more of ITV channels streamed online, plus access to further ITV programming, clips and exclusive content. ITV Local offers local information, news and services and has launched dedicated channels in 2008 including travel and crime. Both itv.com and itvlocal.com are primarily funded by online advertising.
Measurement of video content on itv.com uses an internal system which provides a robust measurement of video views. This has not yet been audited and we are working towards meeting industry standards for video measurement. ITV.com is continually improving its measurement systems and may in future re-define our metrics and so reserve the right to augment existing data.