ITV3 to launch exclusively on Freeview

ITV's newest digital station ITV3 will initially launch on Freeview only, the Media Guardian reports today.

The channel, launching on November 1st, will be targetted at over-35s with a lineup of movies, drama repeats and behind-the-scenes spinoff shows.

Distribution difficulties mean that only a third of the digital audience will be able to tune in from day one, however. "It will come on to Freeview, then move on to cable," said ITV chief exec Charles Allen today. "We're happy to put it on Sky, but Sky are saying they can't put any new channels [on Sky Digital] for six months. The overall issue is when they can take it."

This is not the first time ITV and Sky have been involved in a carriage conflict: popular general entertainment station ITV2 wasn't added to the Sky lineup until three years after its launch in 1998.