Fiona Ramsay, Media Week, 13 May 2008, 07:30am

ITV and Five set to join Virgin Media on-demand

LONDON - ITV is expected to launch its content on Virgin Media's video-on-demand service in the coming months, with Five also in talks to join the VoD offering.

It is thought the launch of ITV's content on the VoD service is being held up by negotiations over who will control ad sales around ITV content.

Last week, Channel 4 started carrying ads around its content on the Virgin Media VoD service, despite having its content there since last year.

A Virgin Media spokesman said that, despite talks with ITV and Five, "no deals had been struck" yet.

ITV said it was "always talking to various platform providers and won't comment until something is confirmed".

Five will this month launch a PC-based VoD catch-up and archive service, Demand Five, and is in talks with third parties to launch the service via TV platforms.

Virgin Media said one of its strategic priorities was "to redefine" the TV experience of its service through VoD, adding that it has already improved the content available on its platform by launching BBC iPlayer and Setanta Sports channels. It has been engaged in a marketing campaign recently, led by Samuel L Jackson.

The Virgin Media VoD platform has 1.6 million monthly users, meaning the service's reach among subscribers is 48%.

From June, Virgin is increasing its pricing, with a £1.50 per month hike in the price of its digital TV XL package and an increase of £1 per month on its standard bundles.