27 May 2008

ITN Source signs representation deal with UTV

ITN Source has signed an exclusive global clip sales representation deal with Northern Ireland based broadcaster UTV to represent its news and regional programming content, giving ITN Source customers access to almost fifty years of unique Northern Ireland footage across politics, entertainment, wildlife and sport.

ITN Source already represents the world’s largest and most diverse collection of footage libraries including Reuters, Channel 4, Granada and FOX Movietone. The UTV agreement adds a further 50,000 hours of content confirming ITN Source as the first choice for professional video content.

As well as featuring video tracing the Northern Ireland troubles, the UTV collection features rare interviews with Bing Crosby, car inventor John DeLorean and a range of celebrity interviews from Kelly, UTV’s chat show which ran for almost 20 years until 2004. The collection also features rarely seen interviews with Rolling Stones and the Beatles in their heyday.

Asha Oberoi, Content Director, ITN Source said:  “Northern Ireland has a very rich history and UTV has captured most of that on camera over the last 50 years. This representation expands the depth and breath of ITN Source’s editorial based content with unique Northern Ireland footage making ITN Source the number one stop for all customers’ content needs.”

Robert Lamrock, Channel Development Manager, UTV Television added: “With almost half a century of footage in UTV’s archives, this partnership with ITN Source will enable UTV’s unique collection to be accessed by producers from all over the world. “

Ends.

For further information, please contact:  John Nolan on +44 (0)20 7430 4216 or email john.nolan@itn.co.uk

About ITN Source

ITN Source is the gateway to over 800,000 hours of iconic footage and creative moving imagery captured over three centuries.  From news to drama, celebrity, comedy, music, wildlife, natural history and film, to an inspirational stock footage section and growing collection of HD material, ITN Source is the media industries’ first choice for professional video content.

ITN Source represents the world’s largest and most diverse catalogue of moving image libraries including, Reuters, ITN, Channel 4, Granada, British Pathe, Fox News and Fox Movietone, Channel 9 News and other specialist collections.  An advanced digital website offers customers the convenience of searching for, viewing, downloading and purchasing inspiring and captivating professional footage at the touch of a button. 

With headquarters in London, ITN Source has sales offices in New York, Toronto, Berlin, Paris, Johannesburg, Sydney and Tokyo. For further information, visit www.itnsource.com

About UTV

UTV Television is part of UTV Media plc, one of the most successful media companies in the UK and Ireland providing radio, television and new media.

UTV Television is based in Northern Ireland and is the Channel 3 licensee regulated by Ofcom to provide a television service of high quality providing regional news, current affairs and mainstream programming which appeals to a wide cross section of its community.

UTV is the most watched channel by far in Northern Ireland with a peaktime share in 2007 of 32%, well ahead of the ITV Network share of 25.3%, BBC NI’s share of 21% and more than three times its nearest commercial competitor Channel 4’s 9% share.

UTV Live is Northern Ireland’s first choice for news. UTV Live is also the most watched regional news in the whole of the UK for the second year running.