Wednesday 29 August 2018 10:09 am | Updated: Friday 24 May 2019 7:45 pm

ITV is right to launch a new streaming service, but it needs to make good content as well

ITV’s plans to join forces with its fellow public service broadcasters BBC and Channel 4 to combat the growing threat from Netflix, Amazon, and other US streaming service giants may have seemed like too little too late.

However, given the success of ITV’s current video offering – the ITV Hub – which has had a bumper year thanks to the popularity of summer reality hit Love Island, I’d argue that it comes at exactly the right time.

In all of the furore around how viewers access content, there is one key area that is often overlooked: the content itself. It’s almost as if the industry has become so blinded by Apple’s success in all sorts of sectors that, ahead of Apple’s launch into streaming, everyone has decided that this is what they need to be focused on as well.

No matter how easy it is to access the content, if it’s not great content, the audience won’t come.

If you need further proof, you only need to look at the success of our feature-length Netflix teen drama The Kissing Booth to see that when it comes to creating winning content on streaming platforms, it is all about producing shows that resonate with the audience. Critics weren’t enamoured with the drama, but it has become a “pop culture phenomenon” according to Netflix, with a global following online that proves that traditional measures of success no longer cut it – it is the audiences and online fanbases that are the real connoisseurs.

So how can ITV (and other channels) create content for streaming services that will really resonate with audiences?

First, ITV needs to seek inspiration and partnerships in new and unusual places.

There is a host of creative talent out there creating and sharing ideas for new programming across platforms that you may not even have heard of yet – so broadcasters need to get out there and make sure they’re tracking where their audience already is, and what they are engaging with. If they can’t commit to doing this full-time, they should find a partner that can help.

Second, ITV must make it easy for its viewers to follow the content they like across different channels.

Making it easy for audiences to move from one digital platform to another is a key factor in the pursuit of creating successful content.

Content that works on a linear channel may not translate so easily to digital and vice versa, so ITV needs to keep this approach front of mind as it considers what new content to create for its new streaming service.

The UK entertainment industry has reached a pivotal point. If we are to safeguard our position as a leading creative force as we approach Brexit, there needs to be a shift in thinking around what success looks like in programming across both streaming services and traditional channels.

The competition is only going to increase as new entrants make their play, so the best thing ITV or any other channel can do is invest heavily in uncovering and then showcasing the best content out there.