Virgin signs deal with ITV

Virgin Media digital TV subscribers will be able to have on-demand access to popular ITV programmes.

The four-year deal means Virgin’s 3.5m customers can use ITV’s catch up TV service, ITV Player as part of Virgin Media’s free catch-up TV service. Over 40 hours of programming from ITV I, 2, 3 and 4, will be made available each week for seven days after broadcast.

Virgin Media’s viewers will also be able to choose from 500 hours of ITV comedies, documentaries and dramas, all ready to watch at any time. This collection of some of the best of British television will be available as part of Virgin Media’s library of programmes, which sit within its TV Choice section.

A selection of ITV’s high-definition (HD) programming will also be available on demand.

In addition, the two companies have also agreed that Virgin Media TV subscribers will be able to watch ITV content online via their computers, providing further viewing options.

Malcolm Wall, Virgin’s content chief executive officer, said: "ITV makes some of the country’s most loved TV programmes so we’re delighted to be able to offer so many of them to our customers."

ITV and Virgin Media have had a chequered history. Virgin Media tried to buy ITV in 2006, but rival BSkyB's purchase of a 17.9 per cent stake in ITV thwarted this plan. A year ago the Government ordered BSkyB to sell over 10 per cent of its stake in ITV because its shareholding was deemed against the public interest.

Ben McOwen Wilson, ITV's director of online, said: “Our ambition is to make our content as widely available for audiences. We are thrilled to be announcing this deal with Virgin Media at a very exciting time for ITV.

"We know Virgin Media’s customers consume a lot of content on demand, and we are confident that with the massive appetite and growth of on-demand content across our online sites during 2008, this deal will allow a new wave of viewers to enjoy our content, in a time when the way our audiences watch TV continues to transform."