It’s been close to two years since British broadcaster ITV announced a deal with YouTube which granted it the ability to sell its inventory on the video sharing platform. YouTube has become a key distribution point for ITV, and the deal enabled it to package and sell inventory on its own terms, covering the full range of ad opportunities around ITV and ITV Studios channels. This in turn led to ITV putting more content onto YouTube, including clips specifically made for the platform.
To handle these sales, ITV launched a dedicated YouTube team within ITV Commercial, which has opened up a tangential opportunity for the broadcaster. Back in February, ITV announced a partnership with the distribution arm of global content business Banijay Entertainment, taking on sales duties for Banijay Rights content on YouTube. This deal covered a number of major TV properties including MasterChef, Peaky Blinders, and Would I Lie To You?
Today, ITV Commercial has expanded its YouTube portfolio further through a deal with Snack Media, a representative of digital rights for major sports bodies which has worked with the NFL, NBA, MLB, Matchroom, and WWE among others.
This deal doesn’t cover all of Snack Media’s YouTube inventory, but will seemingly be rolled out for specific sports businesses over time. The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), which runs the World Darts Championship among other events, is signed up as a launch partner. But ITV described the PDC as the “first partner” through the Snack Media deal, suggesting more sports leagues might be added.
Set to explore further partnerships
This agreement could complement ITV’s existing slate of sports content it runs on YouTube through its own channels. The broadcaster says that its recent coverage of the men’s World Cup drove over 150 million views on the platform.
“This partnership with Snack Media is a key step as we continue to grow and evolve ITV’s YouTube sales house capabilities,” said Abul Noor, head of YouTube sales at ITV. “By partnering with the PDC and Snack, we are bringing premium, high-engagement sports content to our commercial partners, reinforcing our commitment to building a destination for advertisers seeking broadcast-quality content. This collaboration creates a strong foundation for us to explore further partnerships within the sports sector, and we look forward to opportunities to broaden our sports portfolio in the future.”
Since launch, ITV says its YouTube sales arm has partnered with 1,300 brands and products. And Noor’s wording shows that ITV has ambitions to grow this part of the business, and will look to expand its YouTube sales house’s pool of inventory through further partnerships.
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