ITV is to launch its new streaming platform on the eve of the World Cup quarter-finals in a high-risk gamble that the technology behind the service can cope with a surge in viewers.
Football fans have been infuriated by ITV Hub after it froze during live England matches, but this will be replaced by ITVX, a new upgraded streaming platform, on Thursday 8 December.
The broadcaster has chosen the eve of the World Cup quarter-finals, due to be played on 9 and 10 December, to launch the service, which will be accompanied by a marketing blitz.
ITV has first pick of the “last eight” knockout games, giving it exclusive rights to an England tie, should Gareth Southgate’s team advance that far.
Although the games will be shown on terrestrial TV, millions of England and Wales fans are set to watch the World Cup on mobile and laptop screens.
Figures from software company Amdocs found that while most (73 per cent) viewers plan to watch the World Cup on live TV, 44 per cent of millennials and 38 per cent of Gen-Z fans intend to stream games.
ITV is taking a risk that the technology underpinning ITVX will be able to cope with the expected demand without the buffering failures that afflicted its predecessor during high-profile live events.
Love Island fans condemned a “shambles” last year when the Hub crashed, showing an error message, just moments before the series was due to return.
ITV has spent £160m to give ITVX “completely new technical and user-experience architecture”.
Dame Carolyn McCall, ITV chief executive, promised a “simplified and seamless experience” compared to the Hub.
The World Cup will be accompanied by 20 themed pop-up FAST channels, offering instant highlights, interviews and additional content.
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Aimed at a mass audience, ITVX will be free-to-view, with adverts surrounding programmes. There will also be a subscription tier, with a monthly fee yet to be announced, which will offer advert-free viewing and an additional 6,000 hours of content.
Bosses want ITVX to become a portal for live viewing, rather than a catch-up service. It will be the home of Big Brother, when ITV brings back the “original” reality show next year in an effort to reach a younger audience.
Rhys McLachlan, ITV’s director of advanced advertising, told media website The Drum: “It’s not a lipstick-on-a-pig, ITV Hub 2.0 job – it’s a proper transformative experience. It’s like going from a Nokia brick to an iPhone.”
He added: “We are going to come from being average in the field to leagues ahead – it’s going to be way better than [BBC] iPlayer.”
ITVX will offer exclusive premieres this autumn, including Kim Philby drama A Spy Among Friends, starring Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce.
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