the reinvention of commercial psb

The ITV plc 2019 annual report is a window to ITV’s brand identity through their accomplishments and ‘strategic mission’. ITV has been subject to various identity crises over the years, mainly instigated by challenges pertaining to its perception as being “compromised by its financial basis in commerce” (Johnson & Turnock 2005: 3), leading to its subsequent denigration as the ‘ugly sister’ of major British broadcasting (Johnson & Turnock 2005: 2). The report demonstrates how ITV, as a company and a family of channels, has overcame the challenges posed by the hybridity of commercial PSB, all whilst remaining viable amid a “myriad of social, regulatory, technological and political changes” (Garner 2015: 5).
The front page features multimedia devices displaying ITV shows and interfaces (see figure 1). Not only is ITV accentuating interconnectivity, but a sense of versatility with its display of shows ranging from fictional drama to reality TV, embodying drastically contrasting tones. This elucidates ITV’s approach to translating its PSB history of “producing a wide range of programmes for mixed programme schedules” (Johnson & Turnock 2005: 4) to a multi-faceted digital output.

Figure 1: Cover image obtained from the ITV annual report (ITV plc 2019)

Page 4 features their ‘global’ ventures, with shows such as Snow Piercer (TNT, 2020-) and The Voice (ITV, 2011-). Their global endeavour works to ‘diversify our business through the opportunities presented from consumers’ willingness to pay for great content and to engage with ITV as a trusted brand’ (ITV 2019: 4), not only does this directly confront the notion that “ITV has not been readily understood as a producer of ‘quality’ programming” (Johnson and Turnock, 2005: 3), but also highlights ITV’s commercial expansion beyond PSB remits and limitations placed on their family channels.
The first paragraph regarding ITV’s strategic vision emphasises ‘digitally lead media’ which is obtainable ‘wherever, whenever and however’ (ITV plc 2019). ITV’s adaption to a “significant rise in ownership of Internet-connected televisions, smartphones and tablets, increased access to broadband” (Johnson 2017: 122) is achieved through a ‘significant growth in online viewing as viewers choose to watch our content in different ways’ (ITV plc 2019: 7), forefronting their effort to integrate this as supplementary to its existing services. The report boasts that ITV’s family of channels has procured it’s intended demographics in stating ‘6% increase in 16-34s share of viewing on ITV2 to 6.4%’ (ITV plc 2019: 5) (see figure 2). This is presented alongside detailed insight into the development of their digital services in the ‘Direct to Consumer’ section of the page (pertaining to their VoD services primarily), this adjacency demonstrates how ITV intend to create a mutually supportive framework in the form of “a business model that complements, rather than replaces, its linear ad-revenue.” (Johnson 2017: 133); ensuring commercial success universally for the reassurance investors/advertisers. 

Figure 2: Page 5 of the ITV plc 2019 report (ITV plc, 2019)

The report explores how ITV plc is not tied to its terrestrial broadcasting roots as ‘58% of ITV Studios total revenue generated outside the UK’ (ITV plc, 2019: 3), however through “adapting to an online, on demand environment” (Johnson 2017: 133) it nurtures and compliments its origins in broadcast that continue to offer ITV commercial viability. ITV instead redefines itself by expanding into new realms, rather than migrating away from its roots entirely.

Bibliography:

Garner, Ross. 2015. ‘Brand Reconciliation? A Case Study of ITV’s 2013 Rebrand’, Critical Studies in Television, 10(1): 3-23

ITV plc. 2019. ‘Accelerating ITV’s digital transformation’, ITV plc Annual Report and Accounts <https://learn-eu-central-1-prod-fleet01-xythos.content.blackboardcdn.com/5f1b396805acd/6387940?X-Blackboard-Expiration=1612904400000&X-Blackboard-Signature=3vm7J0rPwr1ydBHgwu2D63OXM7huGqyXynZvoLvunWQ%3D&X-Blackboard-Client-Id=135475&response-cache-control=private%2C%20max-age%3D21600&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27annual-report-2019.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20210209T150000Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAZH6WM4PL5M5HI5WH%2F20210209%2Feu-central-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=5947f5e2bdd50299e0a020067283911abfd548dbec5450486d930a80d8883d58> [accessed 10 Feb 2021]
​
Johnson, Catherine and Rob Turnock. 2005. ITV cultures: independent television over fifty years (Maidenhead: Open University Press)

Johnson, Catherine. 2017. ‘Beyond catch-up: VoD interfaces, ITV Hub and the repositioning of television online’, Critical Studies in Television: The international Journal of Television Studies, 12 (2): 121-138

Teleography:
A Confession, ITV, 2019-
Love Island, ITV, 2015-
Snowpiercer, TNT, 2020-
The Voice, ITV, 2011-