ITV, Virgin sign on-demand deal

ITV and Virgin Media have signed an agreement to bring on-demand TV to Virgin's 3.5 million TV customers. The four-year deal means that Virgin Media subscribers will have on-demand access to more than 40 hours of programming from ITV1, 2, 3 and 4 each week. Virgin customers will now have access to popular ITV shows such as Emmerdale and Coronation Street through the ITV Player, the broadcaster's catch-up service. The partnership gives ITV its biggest ever on-demand audience. Virgin Media's own on-demand service reached 45 million views in a month during the third quarter or 2008. As well as current programming, 500 hours of on-demand content – including comedies and dramas – will be made available to Virgin Media viewers, provided the programmes were aired more than six months ago and ITV owns the rights. ITV also announced that a selection of its HD (high definition) content will also be made available to on-demand customers. ITV's top three shows in 2008 were, in order, Coronation Street, The X-Factor and Emmerdale. Virgin Media already gives its TV customers access to catch-up content from the BBC iPlayer. www.itv.com/itvplayer www.virginmedia.com