ITV has announced a new video streaming service to take on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. It’s called ITVX and it will offer a brand new service every single week along with live sports and a constantly changing library of films, the broadcaster said.
What’s more, the service will be free to all U.K. viewers if they don’t mind putting up with ads. Alternatively, they can sign up for an ITVX Plus subscription for no adds and an exclusive “starry” premiere each week.
ITV hasn’t yet said how much the subscription might cost, but an ad-free subscription to ITV Hub, called ITV Hub+, currently costs £3.99 a month. That service will be discontinued when ITVX launches later in the year.
Another benefit of paying for ITVX is that viewers will also be able to access thousands of box sets on the Britbox service, which currently costs £5.99 a month.
ITV said it’s launching ITVX as part of its “digital first” strategy that will see most of its new content first air on the service before landing on its linear channels several months later.
The service will launch later in the year with a number of big-budget originals on its play list, including A Spy Among Friends, which stars Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce, Nolly, which stars Helena Bonham Carter, Litivenko, with David Tennant, and Sir Lenny Henry’s The Little Birds.
ITV promised to have more than 500 films available on the platform in the first year, along with 20 free themed channels, such as True Crime, The Oxford Detectives and ‘90s Favourites.
"Our ambitions in the streaming world are not world domination," said Carolyn McCall, chief executive at ITV. "It is about being a national champion. It is compelling and our expectations of subscriber numbers have been modelled in a very realistic way."
