Britain's Struggling ITV Seeks Succour from Gambling - Warc News

News: September 6, 2007

Britain's Struggling ITV Seeks Succour from Gambling

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LONDON: As it flails to attract deserting advertisers back into its once-rich fold, the UK's largest commercial broadcaster ITV seeks to boost revenues by expanding its relationship with online gambling firm PartyGaming.

The duo already milk the online medium via ITV.com, relaunched in July with a link to the gambling firm's website.

But since Tuesday this week, visitors to the site have been able to experience the joys of online blackjack, roulette, and virtual slot machines by way of a direct connection on the broadcaster's home page.

ITV's 'Great White Hope', executive chairman Michael Grade, has yet to fulfil the hopes pinned on him by avid investors and is urgently seeking new revenue streams to compensate for falling ad income and viewers' migration to other channels.

ITV.com, which in this year's first half doubled its year-on-year revenues to £4 million ($8.08m; €5.92m) - although a mere drop in the ITV ocean - would appear to be Grade's best bet to appease Wall Street and the City of London.

Temporarily.

Data sourced from Financial Times; additional content by WARC staff, 06 September 2007

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