ITV to charge users for ITV Player

ITV has unveiled plans to charge for ITV Player.



Chief executive Adam Crozier confirmed the proposals in the company's first-half interim results for 2011, which were published today.

Crozier said: "We're investing in the quality and reach of our online offering. We're making ITV Player more widely available, most recently on Android and Apple devices and Freesat.

"We plan to have a pay mechanism in place around the turn of the year so that we can test what viewers are willing to pay for, and we continue to work with our partners on YouView, which is on track for launch early next year."

It is not yet clear how the pay mechanism will operate or what content will be pay-to-view.

ITV Player was launched on Apple's iPad and iPhone devices earlier this month, following its earlier rollout on the Android platform.

It has been suggested that ITV Player may also appear on Xbox Live in the UK in the near future. It is already available on the Sony PlayStation3.

Crozier was the same boss who wrecked the postal service as we used to know it and then fled to ITV before the figures became public.

ITV has said that catch-up services on its ITV Player platform will remain free to use.

The company's chief executive Adam Crozier this morning revealed plans to introduce a "pay mechanism" for the service at the turn of the year.

Crozier said: "We plan to have a pay mechanism in place around the turn of the year so that we can test what viewers are willing to pay for, and we continue to work with our partners on YouView, which is on track for launch early next year."

The ITV Press Centre has now added on Twitter: "To clarify. Catch up on ITV Player will remain free. @ITV will be introducing a pay mechanism next year to trial other pay content."

ITV also revealed a 6% drop in advertising revenue this morning and is looking for other ways to finance its programmes.