CITV is to close - Printable Version

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+--- Thread: CITV is to close (/showthread.php?tid=384)

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RE: CITV is to close - gottago - 17-03-2023

(17-03-2023, 12:47 PM)Brekkie Wrote:  Extrapolating the data for February from the BARB viewing ceremony it's easy to see why CITV is going - but arguably the fault of the content on the channel rather than viewing habits for it's demise considering POP, with no big broadcaster behind it to promote it, rates twice as well.

Even CBBC with a far higher budget, varied content and a big broadcaster with frequent cross promotion behind it is able to be beaten on two of three metrics by Pop, made up entirely (I think) of acquisitions.

I'm sure the answer is no but I wonder if ITV might launch an IP channel within the Freeview EPG for ITVX Kids where the current CITV channel sits, much like Ketchup and Yaaas which presumably have been a success as Ketchup has a second channel now. Pop Player also has its own LCN. Or will they just sell the LCN to the highest bidder as per the recentish changes in LCN rules.

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RE: CITV is to close - Brekkie - 17-03-2023

I doubt it - ITVX isn't even now available on all but the newest Freeview Play devices and none of the commercial PSBs have shown any interest in making their on demand content available via the Freeview EPG or red button in the way the BBC and some other commercial broadcasters have (indeed 4Music had the extra channels for a decade or so but have now scrapped them, and C4 never used the technology for anything else - i.e. the Paralympics)

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RE: CITV is to close - XIII - 17-03-2023

I wonder if ITVX Kids might end up having a FAST Channel on ITVX.

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RE: CITV is to close - cable - 17-03-2023

I'd expect ITVX Kids FAST channels, several of them perhaps. But I would not expect to see them in the current live section of ITVX. That's not how modern UI design works. I'd expect it to be locked in to its own look, a bit like kids safe mode on SkyQ and YouTube Kids, but not in a separate app.

The aim should be to protect the kids from seeing unsuitable for their age content. I think it might work a little like Disney+ where profiles can have a PIN set to access. On some versions of ITVX, you can select a profile and add a kids one. That would seem a natural evolution of the parental controls concept.

TBH I'm surprised ITV don't add a red button like trigger on Freeview Play devices on their channels that would direct users to Watch in HD (via ITVX). I guess that all versions of the app would need to support live channels for it to reasonably work.

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RE: CITV is to close - benzj - 17-03-2023

(17-03-2023, 01:33 PM)gottago Wrote:  Even CBBC with a far higher budget, varied content and a big broadcaster with frequent cross promotion behind it is able to be beaten on two of three metrics by Pop, made up entirely (I think) of acquisitions.

Mostly correct, though Pop did commission and premiere an original of their own last year, Swipe It with Joe Tasker: https://kidscreen.com/2022/07/22/youtuber-joe-taskers-live-actioner-heads-to-pop/ 

I think Pop being successful enough to consider originals is more of an indictment of how CITV has been run over the years than any trends in UK kids' TV; as much as I'm not in the target audience in terms of age or geography, CITV's reliance on the kids' TV fund for this latest batch of originals (and the cancellation of Scrambled!) signaled clearly enough to me that maybe their heart wasn't truly in it anymore.

Even just amongst acquisitions, Pop and its siblings have seemed a bit more eager over the years, especially in Narrative's hands, with picking up new series than CITV has, in my limited experience with them -- even right now, looking at the EPGs, I can point out about four or five shows on the Pop and Pop Max schedules that have premiered there within the past year or so. CITV's only really started to pick up to a similar pace recently, whereas for the longest they seemed more than content with [i]Mr. Bean[i], [i]Horrid Henry[i], and whatever was cheap enough to grab from Cartoon Network (and Disney Channel, Disney XD and/or Canada before that). Not to denigrate the US as a programming source (and Pop has a Canadian show or two on their lineup at the moment as well, I'm not suggesting that's the issue), but maybe being disconnected from a major broadcaster (in kids' TV or otherwise) has perhaps made the Pop channels a bit pluckier than if they were shoved down the couch cushions of a bigger brand in the way CITV has felt at times. As much as I appreciate the renewed vigor over there, perhaps the reputational damage has likely already been done.

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RE: CITV is to close - mumu03 - 18-03-2023

Though I never actually followed the channel, even as a child in the mid 2000s, at a cursory glance I would say that Pop has also picked up where CITV left off in terms of effort put into promotions/presentation.

For many years, particularly during the Steve Ryde era, CITV often worked with film director Tony Jopia to create promotions and pres for programmes. A quick look at the YouTube and Instagram accounts which showcase his work reveals that he has done much more for Pop in recent times- e.g. this one for their breakfast programmes, and a 2018 Christmas promo which is even directly compared with a similar package Jopia made for CITV in 2001.

But compare these instead with more recent CITV promos, where there usually seems to be simply clips of shows intercut with minimal voiceover and a few graphics. Not truly attention grabbing at all.

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RE: CITV is to close - cable - 19-03-2023

With ITV going HD on satellite and its investment in ITVX, I wonder what ITVs plans for the +1s are long term on Freeview. If you look at COM4, after CITV, ITVBE is the only non +1 on that multiplex. Looking at PSB2, ITV+1 is the only +1 on it. If they want to get rid of the +1s, moving ITVBE to PSB2, and moving ITV+1 to COM4, in a non-regional version akin to BBC One nightlight would make sense.

Previously SDN was brought by ITV carriage revenues and the ability to launch additional channels and to later assist with its pension funds, but their latest financial report suggests that new carriage deals are worth less, selling off the slots they currently own to other broadcasters and retaining the carriage fees could be a way of increasing revenue from the SDN business.

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RE: CITV is to close - nwtv2003 - 19-03-2023

I believe ITVBe has recently switched to PSB2 from COM4. It’s on the back of an update from Channel 4 allowing E4 to be on PSB2 throughout Wales.

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RE: CITV is to close - Brekkie - 19-03-2023

And I'd be amazed if ITV3+1 didn't go 24/7 on Freeview once CITV closed. There is obviously still considered to be value in them considering they're not being sacrificed in this era when everybody supposedly catches up on demand (and bringing the "restart" function to non-BBC Freeview channels doesn't seem to have got anywhere despite being touted a year or two ago). Sadly though BARB don't report the +1 channels separately anymore, lumping them in with the main channel.

One other thing I wonders is with CITV being a limited hours channel, unlike their commercial rivals, has that limited their advertising too. Assuming the permitted level is the same as other channels I assume they can only air an average of 9 minutes of ads between 6am and 9pm, but the 24/7 channels can balance that average out by scrapping ads overnight and airing 12 minutes an hour between 6am and midnight.

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RE: CITV is to close - cable - 19-03-2023

(19-03-2023, 12:22 PM)nwtv2003 Wrote:  I believe ITVBe has recently switched to PSB2 from COM4. It’s on the back of an update from Channel 4 allowing E4 to be on PSB2 throughout Wales.

indeed, https://www.digitalbitrate.com/dtv.php?mux=BBCB-PSB3&liste=2&live=9&lang=en , I'd forgotten about that. So that nicely lumps their +1s on COM4 allowing ITV1+1 to stay regionalised on PSB2.

https://rxtvinfo.com/2023/itv-opens-up-freeview-channel-to-more-viewers/ 

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