Long-standing assumptions about the bitter rivalry between TV and the Internet are being swept aside as Britain’s terrestrial broadcasters venture more online TV on demand, streaming content and near-live simulcasting via the web.

Ever since broadband speeds made it feasible to share large files over the net, users have been able to obtain hours of illegally-distributed broadcast content from the web. Accessing content online these days is easier than ever.

And while for most viewers broadcast TV remains quicker, easier and higher quality than most online offerings, more people are using the net to catch up on or rewatch their favourite shows, scheduling their own programme of content sourced from major broadcast outlets. The screen may be smaller and the range of programming not yet up to that of live channels but that hasn’t halted growth in the range of online services offered by broadcasters such as ITV and C4.

Engaging the viewer

Where viewers go, broadcasters must follow. Initial debates focused on the fear of cannibalisation across platforms, but talk soon turned to the idea of touch-points. Rather than eroding their traditional base of TV viewers by increasing the number of outlets and opportunities, a potential viewer has to engage with media sources throughout the day, broadcasters stand to develop larger audiences.

“Our audience was telling us they wanted to find content elsewhere than just on TV,” says Sarah Rose, head of VoD and channel development at Channel 4. “For us it was a case of either sitting back and watching as things evolved around us or getting involved at the very beginning and helping drive and shape the change.”
As well as responding to the demands of their tech-savvy, early-adopter audience, Rose says the decision to launch Channel 4’s online video-on-demand service, 4oD, was also influenced by the existing rights arrangement the station had with its content producers.

“Because we don’t own our own rights and we don’t make our own programmes, we knew that if we didn’t proactively seek to exploit those rights on other platforms and make revenue for all concerned, our position would become increasing vulnerable over time,” Rose says.

A deal made in June 2006 with the independent producers association, Pact, gave C4 a 30-day window of exclusivity to exploit programming though its various VoD services, leading to the launch of 4oD in December 2006.

But while 4oD emphasises access to a vast collection of archived programming, ITV.com focuses on near-to-live simulcasting of its broadcast content. For Annelies Van Den Belt, managing director of ITV Broadband, moving online is more about widening the range of services than establishing a competing outlet.

“We want to ensure our viewers, and consumers, can access ITV’s high-quality content on the platform and at the time that suits them. TV advertising as a whole, across ITV’s family of channels, is still strong, so this is an entirely new and complementary service,” says Belt By offering an online service alongside the TV broadcast, Van Den Belt says, ITV can cross-promote between online and broadcast, offering viewers “a truly 360-degree experience of their favourite shows”.

‘Synergistic outlets’

Rose agrees online platforms can function as highly synergistic outlets for broadcast content, citing the recent launch of a second series of Skins as a case in point.

“In the lead-up to the new series we ran a free-to-view Skins archive on 4oD to bring people up to speed on the first series. Our thinking was that by allowing people who’d missed the show first time round, to catch up, we’d be fostering series loyalty, which would feed back into higher viewing figures on the main E4 channel.” So did the move work? “So far Skins has been the highest viewed of all our shows on 4oD,” says Rose.

Business model

Demand or no demand, without a viable business model underpinning free-to-view online platforms, broadcasters risk making a rod for their own back. Rose says that, with regard to funding online ventures through ad support, established commercial broadcasters have an advantage over new entrants to the market, such as Babelgum and Joost, which cater solely to an online TV audience.

“Regardless of the quality of technology underpinning new platforms, you need content to sustain these services,” she says. “Gateway and aggregator services like Babelgum are probably struggling to make money as for the most part they don’t have mainstream content. It might be that they develop into niche markets we’re choosing not to explore, in which case they’ll be complementary to us.”

Babelgum chief executive Valerio Zingarelli feels that it’s these sorts of niche markets, underpinned by a greater emphasis on community, that distinguish online-only TV providers from their broadcast counterparts. “Babelgum is creating a new kind of interactive video portal that brings together professional niche content from around the world and delivers it to communities with similar interests...,” says Zingarelli.

Observes Van Den Belt, “Just as in TV, the success of one service over another online will be their ability to break through with a strong brand and a consumer-friendly offering.”


The Guardian