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The UK’s largest commercial broadcaster, the Independent Television Network (generally referred to in the UK by the acronym, "ITV"), has announced plans for the launch of its long-awaited participation TV channel and program brand, ITV Play: ITV Play will launch as a channel on the UK’s free-to-air digital terrestrial platform, Freeview, on April 19th–ITV says that it will launch on other platforms later this year–and ITV Play-branded programming will launch on the broadcaster’s ITV1 and ITV2 channels (where it will air overnight) on March 31st. ITV has, in fact, been offering two participation TV formats–dubbed respectively Quizmania (produced by FremantleMedia) and Play Sudoku (produced by Optimistic Entertainment)–overnight on those channels for the past three months. The broadcaster promises that ITV Play will offer higher quality programs, higher production values, and larger and more regular prizes. ITV Play will attempt to generate revenue directly from consumers, rather than through advertising: ITV CEO, Charles Allen, said earlier this month that the broadcaster expects it to generate a £20 million profit in its first year.

ITV Play will be headed up by William van Rest, whom ITV recently poached from Optimistic Entertainment–a company which he co-founded and where he served first as channel head, then as director of networks, and finally as director of strategic and corporate development (note: while at Optimistic, van Rest was responsible for the development and roll-out of the company’s participation TV channel, QuizNation, which launched in 2003). The first ITV Play program to launch will be "The Mint," which is a co-production between Ludus TV and Enteraction (the company behind The Great Big British Quiz Channel) and which ITV is billing as "a high-energy late-night compendium of live participation studio games, call games, puzzles, stunts and events." Viewers will be able to call or text the show to participate in individual games for small prizes, and will also have a chance to win a jackpot. Other ITV Play programming offerings will include a "pub quiz," called "Rovers Return," and based on the fictional pub from the long-running ITV soap opera, "Coronation Street." According to ITV, the show will feature guest appearances by stars of the show, and substantial cash prizes. In the next few months, ITV also plans to launch an ITV Play Web portal, and to roll out ITV Play-branded games for its ITV Mobile portal. "We are working with the UK’s top producers to come up with high-quality, entertaining, playful formats that contain much more interaction than viewers have seen before," Jeff Henry, head of ITV’s Consumer unit (note: the unit, which was set up last year, is so called, because its goal is to generate revenues directly from the consumer), said in a prepared statement. "With the success we’ve already enjoyed from existing formats on ITV1 and ITV2, we feel confident that these programs will prove extremely popular with our mass-market audiences. ITV Play is another valuable addition to our growing portfolio of businesses which have a direct relationship with the consumer. As with our mobile and broadband initiatives we are responding to consumer demand with new and innovative products."

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http://blog.itvt.com/my_weblog/2006/01/_announcing_the.html

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