Independent producers will be handed half of the profits from phone services on shows they make for ITV, as part of a deal between the broadcaster and producers' alliance Pact.
Independent producers will be handed half of the profits from phone services on shows they make for ITV, as part of a deal between the broadcaster and producers' alliance Pact.

Under the deal on new media rights between ITV and Pact last week, producers will receive a 50% share of the net revenue from telephony services surrounding programmes they make for ITV, such as phone voting on shows such as The X Factor.

With ITV predicting that the ITV Play channel alone will make annual profits of around £20m, telephony revenue is set to prove a windfall for indies.

The deal between Pact and ITV follows those done with the BBC and Channel 4 over recent weeks. A deal with Five is expected within the next couple of weeks.

Like C4, ITV has gained a 30-day window in which to exclusively exploit the programme on video-on-demand (VOD) services, including mobile phones and online.

After the 30-day window, ITV can negotiate a longer VOD window. But if it fails to come to an agreement it then has a five-month window which keeps the programme off rival VOD services.

During both the 30-day and five-month periods, producers will be entitled to a 50-50 share of net revenue produced by a programme from the new media exploitation.

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