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BBC iPlayer is getting a major new competitor with ITV gearing up to launch a brand new streaming app later this year – ITVX. This new app – which will be available to watch for free via an ad-supported plan – will launch with over 15,000 hours worth of content to watch, will be the place to watch major events such as the World Cup and Love Island Final live, and will also be where you can watch premieres of new ITV shows for free first before it arrives on ITV’s broadcast channel months later. If this all wasn’t enough ITVX has just got even better with a new deal announced that will bring even more content to the app.
It was revealed today that ITVX has penned a deal which will see 400 hours of extra content added to the service when it launches in late 2022.
And it’s a diverse selection of content that is coming to ITVX, with content from Anime Ltd and CBS Reality heading to the app.
Anime Ltd is a Glasgow-based firm that specialises in anime and is the largest independent anime licensor in the UK.
The deal struck with ITV means ITVX will air free-to-watch anime episodes and films.
Over 500 anime episodes – which amounts to around 200 hours worth of content – is heading to ITVX.
Cowboy Bebop: Trailer for animated Japanese series
Among the anime shows that will be free to watch with ITVX include the critically acclaimed cult hit Cowboy Bebop (which was recently made into a live action Netflix series). Other animes heading to ITVX include Gunbuster (the directorial debut of Neon Genesis Evangelion visionary Hideaki Anno), Lupin III Part 6 and Megalobox.
The other deal that ITV has signed is with CBS Reality, and it will once again see 200 hours worth of extra content added to ITVX – this time true crime shows.
Programmes such as Descent of a Serial Killer – which is presented by criminologist Donal MacIntyre, The Real Prime Suspect and New Scotland Yard Files will all be heading to ITVX.
These deals will help bring a diverse array of content to ITVX, in addition to all the other content that will be available in the app. Besides ITV-made shows ITVX will offer access to premium dramas, documentaries, US series, comedy and reality shows, blockbuster films and much more.
ITVX will be free to watch thanks to an ad-supported plan but a paid-for ad-free plan, which also offers access to BritBox, will be available too.
Speaking about the latest additions to the app’s library, Laura Franses – ITV’s director of content partnerships streaming – said: “We are delighted to announce our first wave of deals with Anime Ltd and CBS AMC Networks UK Channels Partnership for True Crime UK from CBS Reality – with more to follow. These deals herald a new business model and opening up of the ITVX platform enabling us to bring hundreds of hours of 3rd party content to new and existing ITVX users”.
While Andrew Partridge, president and CEO of Anime Ltd, said: “We could not be more pleased than to team up with ITV in our efforts to share world-class Japanese animation with new audiences and lifelong fans across the United Kingdom. With a diverse lineup of anime from some of the most impressive minds in television and film, ITVX promises to be an essential destination for anyone interested in the medium.”
And Tanya Gugenheim, SVP for business development for AMC Networks International UK, added: “We are excited to work with ITV on this landmark deal, through which CBS Reality’s most popular true crime programmes will reach an even wider audience. Our new AVOD service True Crime UK from CBS Reality underscores our commitment to showcasing expert-led critically-acclaimed factual entertainment to audiences in the UK and beyond.”
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