ITV and YouTube have entered a strategic partnership aimed at maximising audience engagement and reach.
- Hundreds of hours of ITV’s popular programmes will now be accessible on YouTube.
- The collaboration allows ITV’s commercial team to leverage YouTube for enhanced advertising opportunities.
- Dedicated YouTube sales teams are being established within ITV to manage new advertising channels.
- This partnership builds on ITV’s strategy to diversify viewing platforms and optimise content distribution.
ITV has announced a significant partnership with YouTube, expanding its distribution channels to include one of the world’s largest video platforms. This collaboration aims to enhance ITV’s reach and provide audiences with more diverse viewing options. By joining YouTube’s partner programme, ITV will make hundreds of hours of its well-loved programmes available, marking a new chapter in digital distribution for the broadcaster.
ITV’s commercial team stands to benefit from the partnership by selling a comprehensive range of advertising opportunities associated with ITV and ITV Studios content on YouTube. This includes programming such as ‘I’m A Celebrity’, ‘The Masked Singer’, ‘An Audience With Kylie’, ‘Olivia Marries Her Match’, ‘Ferne McCann: My Family & Me’, ‘Bullseye’, and ‘You Bet!’. Additionally, genre-specific channels like ITV News and ITV Sport will be developed, alongside others dedicated to ITV Daytime and popular shows like ‘Love Island’.
The partnership also supports ITV’s broader strategy to offer tailored content for YouTube, attracting a wide array of advertisers through premium, brand-safe environments. Kelly Williams, Managing Director of ITV Commercial, highlighted that this move provides more significant opportunities for advertisers to engage with audiences across various genres.
As part of this expansion, ITV is setting up a dedicated YouTube sales team within its commercial division. Abul Noor, who previously worked at Channel 4, has been appointed to the newly created role of Head of YouTube Sales. Noor’s role will involve orchestrating sales strategies and opportunities across ITV’s diverse content offerings on YouTube.
This strategic alignment with YouTube allows ITV to follow in the footsteps of Channel 4, which embarked on a similar venture in 2022. Both broadcasters are now leveraging YouTube to deepen connections with audiences through full episodes, clips, and new, innovative fan content.
The alliance between ITV and YouTube represents a forward-thinking shift in content distribution, broadening the scope of viewer engagement.
