The broadcaster has made ITV1 available on the 3 mobile phone
network for 99p per day and the ITV Play channel for 49p per day.
An unlimited viewing package of 18 channels will cost £5 per
month.
The company says that it decided to launch without ads because
it was not sure that it had the right to beam ads on a new medium
without the consent of advertisers. It may also need individual
consent from all those appearing in the ads or contributing
copyright protected material, such as music or graphics.
"We’re in discussions with our advertisers about the rights for
ads, and we are confident that the service will carry a full
complement of advertisements soon,” an ITV spokeswoman told
OUT-LAW. The company does not know when the ads might launch.
The service is a simulcast, which means that the programmes are
shown on phones at the same time as they are shown on televisions.
While TV viewers watch ads, those using mobile phones will see
trailers and clips from upcoming ITV programmes.
Channel 4 recently ran into similar trouble when it had to cut
ads from its broadband TV simulcast over concerns that it did not
have the rights to broadcast them on another platform.
Digital and new media rights have been a fierce battleground as
broadcasters and independent production companies battle over the
rights to exploit programmes online and on phones.
"The world of rights moves so fast now that anyone commissioning
content needs to be aware when they draw up a contract of what
future uses for it they might have," said Yvonne Dunn, a media
specialist lawyer with Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind OUT-LAW.
"They can then put it in a contract when they are in a position of
strength rather than come back to it later when someone might have
them over a barrel."
"This is not likely to prove a major problem for ITV this time
since advertisers are likely to welcome the extra publicity of
their ads being on the new service," said Dunn.
