ITV today announced that it has signed agreements with BSkyB for carriage of ITV1 and ITV2 on Sky Digital.

ITV1 will launch immediately (Wednesday 21 November) on digital satellite with 16 regional services, comprising each of the 14 ITV regions and separate services for Border England and Border Scotland and for HTV Wales and HTV West. A Conditional Access (CA) agreement means that ITV1 will be available to all satellite viewers, with the main service in each region available on the Sky Digital Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) on channel 103.

ITV2 will launch in the coming days (launched on 22nd at 1.40pm) on Sky Digital on channel 226. ITV2 is a general entertainment channel that broadcasts repeat and first-run ITV programming in addition to original commissions and acquisitions. It is currently available on ITV Digital and on most cable systems. Carriage on Sky Digital will increase ITV2’s distribution by over 150%.

Stuart Prebble, ITV Chief Executive, said: “This is good news for satellite viewers, who will be able to watch ITV1 and ITV2 through the Sky Digital EPG with digital quality pictures and full programme information. It’s also good for ITV, which benefits from the “digital dividend??? which we receive for encouraging digital viewing. Over time ITV will also benefit from revenues from interactive programming and advertising.

“I’m delighted that ITV2 will now be available to the majority of multi-channel viewers. The channel is already a growth story, and this dramatic increase in distribution will allow it to realise its potential. In this competitive multi-channel world this deal will increase both the distribution and visibility of our channels.???

Most viewers will be able to see their local ITV1 service on channel 103 on the Sky Digital EPG. In regions where viewers can usually receive 2 or 3 different regional services, ITV has ensured that these are available on digital satellite. The main regional service will be found on channel 103, and the other services will be available through channels 963 or 964 on the Sky Digital EPG.

The general view appears that the deal has cost ITV between £15 and £17 million a year with some of the fee going back to ITV to allow Sky to carry ITV2 as part of its family pack. The exact finacial arrangement has not been released but sources tell Digital Spy that these are not far from reality.


Wednesday 21st November:-
At 5.15pm ITV had not yet launched on 103 but as you can see from above expect it later this evening my guess would be before 6pm.

5.29pm if you are on channel 103 you keep on being thrown off as something is happening - won't be long now....

5.30pm ITV is active on 103..... and in the EPG.

As expected you will only get your local ITV station and in areas of analog overlap one or two others so for example in London you just get ITV London and don't have access to anything at 963 or 964. You can still access other ITV regions via the Other Channels function on the digibox.

At present the service seems to be 14x9 a source in transmssion tells us that engineering have told him it is likely to be a week or so for this to be fixed to their satisfaction. This was confirmed to us by ITV Network on the 22nd (see article).


Further details from the ITV web site.