ITV Moves to Strong Android Strategy - Apple After

written by: Richard Kastelein

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Published on Tuesday, 21 June 2011 17:17

Joseph O'Halloran over at RapidTV News reports that ITV is heading for Android territory in their multiplatform strategy in terms of mobile and tablet.

ITV has announced the next stage in its 5-year plan to develop a multiplatform strategy that will see online TV performance and distribution improved by porting its ITV player to Android mobile devices.

In May 2011 Adam Crozier, ITV plc Chief Executive announced that as part of this strategy ITV would continue to invest in making its ITV Player more robust and easier to use, and the new move is both a vindication of this commitment and an indication of the continued strength of the Android platform which in total number is outstripping even sales of the iPad and iPhone.

Commenting on the launch, Robin Pembrooke, Managing Director, ITV Online and On Demand said: “I’m very excited to be launching our first ever ITV Player mobile app and genuinely believe that the simple design and high picture quality of this app is a leap forward in providing our customers with what they want to watch on the move. Android is just the first step in a mobile strategy that will see us rolling out ITV Player across mobiles and tablets, including iPhones and iPads, across the rest of this year.”

And the BBC?

The broadcaster [ITV] also confirmed it is working on a version of the application for iPhones and iPads, as it plays catch-up with the BBC which has had Android and iPad apps for its iPlayer since February and an iPhone edition since way back in 2008.

So naturally, most think that ITV is way behind on iPhone and why on earth are they making a move to Android first?

Let's take a look at some slides that Jeremy Copp, Vice President Mobile Europe emailed me last week after the BLN Money in Mobile Conference in London:

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Wow - 953 per cent hockey stick increase in Google. Apple with a gentle rise of only 103 per cent.

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Looks like a smart move to me. The Cult of Apple tends to stretch a lot further in our tech bubbles than it does in the real world. Numbers prove the case. 

The new ITV Player app is now available across mobile phones and tablets supported by Android 2.2 versions and above and will provide customers with access to the last seven days of ITV’s catch-up content across ITV1, ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4. Crucially, an totally in keeping with the monetisation strategy, the new ITV Player Android app is ad-supported and is initially available free of charge to download from the Google Android App store now.