By Mark Sweney: ITV (LSE: ITV) is to launch its first teleshopping programme on its flagship channel, ITV1, featuring home shopping company QVC and a host of games inluding bingo and roulette.
The launch of the show, called The Zone, follows from Ofcom’s decision last year to allow cash-strapped public service broadcasters to launch such services for the first time.
The Zone, which ITV refers to as its “place to shop and play”, will air for two hours from 12am in a six month trial. Re-runs currently make up the bulk of ITV1’s overnight schedule.
Ofcom’s relaxation of regulations around such services, which it announced in May last year to help PSBs “against the background of falling advertising revenues”, ITV could run up to six hours of teleshopping programming from midnight each day on ITV1.
“This is an exciting new development for ITV created by a change in regulatory rules,” said William van Rest, controller of TV shopping and gaming at ITV. “We are keen to trial a range of opportunities to develop a potentially valuable new revenue stream.”
ITV is running a six-month trial of the new service in partnership with QVC and TV gaming firm NetPlayTV. The two hour slot will be broken into 27-minute segments, interspersed with presenter-fronted anchor links, with games on the service including keno-style formats, bingo and roulette. Netplay’s bingo-based show will run for about 30 minutes of the slot up to six nights a week.
The company’s Roulette Nation interactive gameshow, which already airs on Virgin 1 and Scottish broadcaster STV, will run in an additional 30 minute slot. ITV said it is finalising deals with other partners who will get smaller slots.
“This agreement is a huge breakthrough for the company,” said Martin Higginson, group chief executive of NetPlayTV. “While the new format has been costly to develop and is as yet unproven, we believe the potential upside to be significant”.
ITV’s digital channels
This article originally appeared in © Guardian News & Media Ltd..

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