ITV Studios has launched Zoo 55, a digital content label that aims to help the UK production and distribution giant exploit its catalogue more effectively on YouTube and other platforms.
Zoo 55 aims to take ITV Studios brands further into digital including YouTube channels, social media and streaming platforms. ITV Studio already has an existing portfolio of 140 owned and operated channels on YouTube, 18 FAST channels across 17 territories and 100+ platform feeds globally.
Zoo 55 will be led by Martin Trickey, who joins from Warner Bros International TV Production in January. He will report to Ruth Berry ITV Studios President of Global Partnerships & Zoo 55. Graham Haigh, currently EVP Digital at ITV Studios, will partner with Martin as COO.
The new label will exploit more than 90,000 hours of programming in the ITV Studios catalogue. It will launch several new channels across AVOD and FAST, as well as creating environments for audiences to engage with its brands on immersive platforms like Roblox, Fortnite and Minecraft.
ITV Studios’ digital portfolio has reached over two billion views on YouTube this year and close to eight billion views across all social platforms, through channels such as The Voice Global, Hell’s Kitchen, Celebs Up Close, and Our World.
Its FAST channels suite includes The Graham Norton Show, Come Dine With Me, River Monsters and Taste, which are carried by partners like Samsung, Freevee, LG, Roku, Pluto and Seven.
Berry said: “It is such an exciting time to be taking this area of the business to a whole new level - we’re ready, we’re experts at selling to audiences who come to the same places for the content they love, but more and more our end viewer is on the move so we want to engage with them in different ways wherever they are. Martin and Graham will be a dream team taking the business forward as Zoo 55. Without a doubt, this venture works hand in glove with Global Partnerships as the streaming world expands across Free and Pay worlds. In part, it’s an evolution of our windowing strategy and the teams being in lockstep is critical.”
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