Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Disney and ITV have struck a deal to show their programmes on each other’s platforms for the first time in the latest sign of the fast-changing relationships between traditional European broadcasters and US streaming platforms.
Under the terms of the agreement announced on Thursday, ITV will begin showing some of Disney’s hit programmes, such as The Bear, while giving the US streamer some of its biggest shows, including Love Island, in a promotional grab for each other’s audiences. Viewers will be able to watch the shows on each service from July 16.
Last month the Financial Times revealed plans by Netflix to show all of the channels broadcast by TF1 on its platform, in effect removing the need for audiences to use the French broadcaster’s own streaming service.
ITV, however, is relying on its streaming platform as a source of future growth. Traditional TV groups such as ITV are struggling with declining linear audiences and advertising revenues as more people watch TV online.
The British broadcaster has so far sought to try to rival groups such as Disney and Netflix directly, although lacks the resources to produce the big budget global content made by the US streamers.
Karl Holmes, general manager for Disney+ in Emea, said in an interview that the partnership would boost subscriptions and engagement for both platforms, given only a small overlap in their audience.
He said that the Disney audience tended to skew younger — with a larger number of children and families, as well as viewers between 15 and 34 — while ITV’s service had more viewers in the 55+ demographic.
Disney will offer some of its more adult-orientated programmes such as Andor, The Bear and Only Murders in the Building to ITV’s audience to encourage them to sign up to its platform.
“It would not work if our demographics were the same,” said Holmes, adding that this sort of arrangement was more attractive to free-to-air broadcasters that wanted to maintain their own streaming business than a wholesale deal to show all content.
ITV will provide Disney with hit shows including the award-winning drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, espionage thriller A Spy Among Friends and selected seasons of the reality hit Love Island.
Both companies will also be able to sell advertising on the programmes provided by their partner. ITVX is free to watch in the UK, supported by advertising, although a premium service is also available for viewers who want to watch ad-free.
The promotional selection of hit shows and movies, billed as a “Taste of ITVX” and a “Taste of Disney+” respectively, will be regularly refreshed and presented on special “rails” on the platforms.
Kevin Lygo, managing director of media and entertainment at ITV, said the tie-up “allows us to show our complementary audiences a specially selected collection of titles, regularly . . . that gives a flavour of the range in our respective offerings”.
