ITV2 moves ahead of Sky One

From MediaGuardian...

ITV2 for the first time has proved more popular than rival Sky One for an entire quarter, and now leads Sky One across all its key target audiences. Figures show that in the third quarter of this year ITV2 won more 16- to 34-year-old and ABC1 viewers than the satellite broadcaster.
The news comes despite a huge marketing push by Sky at the end of last year and a move upmarket led by the BSkyB chief executive, James Murdoch.

Although Sky One has enjoyed hits such as football reality show The Match, ITV2 has pulled ahead in the ratings.

Since it launched in 2001, ITV2 has grown its audience share from 0.2% to 2.1% among all adults in multichannel homes. Sky One's audience share has dropped from 3.4% to 1.6% over the same period.

A Sky spokesman said: "ITV2's figures are not much of a surprise given they are on Freeview. We've always said in the past we measure our audience appreciation by subscription appreciation. We are not advertiser-funded, we are subscription-based."

And among 16- to 34-year-olds ITV2 has increased its share from 0.2% to 2.8%, while Sky One has fallen from 5.4% to 2.7%.

ITV2 has beaten Sky One before for 16-to-34s and ABC1s on a weekly basis but this is the first sustained period where ITV2 has been the leading non-terrestrial channel among all adults.

Aimed primarily at women, ITV2 has also further extended its lead among women aged 16-to-34, housewives with children, and adults as a whole.

The figures also shows Sky One's reliance on key programmes such as The Simpsons. During five out of the 12 weeks of the last quarter, The Simpsons took all 10 places in Sky One's top 10 programmes.A massive 43% of the satellite channel's total impacts come from just three programmes, compared with 28% for ITV2.

The news will be taken by ITV as vindication of its policy of building a bouquet of niche channels. The broadcaster's director of programmes, Nigel Pickard, has been keen to point out that while ITV1's share may have waned, ITV2 is helping the network centre target a wider range of viewers and build the ITV brand. It is also about to launch a new men's channel, ITV4, and next February will start a new digital children's channel.

The ITV2 channel editor, Zai Bennett, said: "We are delighted that ITV2 is the most watched non-terrestrial channel so far this year, and that it has recently overtaken all of its competitors in the crucial ABC1 and 16-to-34 demographics. What makes these results even more pleasing is that they are the rewards of a rich and diverse schedule".

SKY One used to be one of my favourite channels but there isn't a single programme in the schedule that I would watch now.

Also, concerning the above quote - If SKY One is subscription based why on earth are there adverts on SKY One ? - they can't have it both ways (or can they?)

SKY One and all the SKY Sports channels have to be paid for via subscription AND SKY get paid for the advertising on these channels! Surely the above quote is misleading?

Also as ITV2 is on freeview there more chance of them going more viewer!
As sky one not on freeview yet, apart from the Simpson/ 24 there nothing great on it anymore.

Plus as it a subscription it mean PEOPLE are going to be watching, and that the case, so the advertiser have a very good chance of people seeing there products! Like on the Sky sports so sky going to be making a mint sometime on these channels though advert!

The thing is in term of quality programming Sky One certainately beats ITV2 at it, at the moment. ITV2 though popular as it is, is a schedule thats based on old US repeats, ITV1 repeats, ITV1 spin-off's and half decent Sports and Movies, nothing spectacular, but this is what ITV wants, a popular channel that doesn't cost too much to run.

Where as Sky One, though it does heavily rely on The Simpsons in the early Evening slot, around it there have been some really good home made programmes of late such as Brainiac: Science Abuse, The Match, Dream Team, Chavs, Final Chance To Save, Taste, Whatever, Inside Britain's Fattest Man, Why Reality TV Is Good For You the list goes on, some rather ironically are made by Granada.

Though Sky One is not as popular in the ratings, it's output is alot better than ITV2's IMO.

The only programme I watch on ITV 2 is judge judy.

Surely missed out a vitally important "on DSat" clause there. No?


So .. why the ads then? Wouldn't "We are not solely advertiser-funded, we are also subscription-based" be more truthful?

I noticed that too. ITV2 has only been available to the masses (and the whole of the UK) since 2001, but it's been going in England and Wales since 1998. And a darn sight better channel it was too in it's pre-dsat, pre whole UK days.

Absolutely! I remember ITV2's good ol' early days. Strange to imagine it was around BEFORE the Hearts Era even began!

Anyway, as for this news - I don't really care - ITV2 and Sky One are both complete trash these days.

I wonder how Sky One will be affected by the changes to Sky subscriptions, with the basic and family packs being replaced with viewers able to pick and mix two or more packages out of six families of channels (like Kids mix, Variety Mix, News mix etc).

I think Sky One needs to buy more big quality programmes, as well as produce its own. Years ago, Sky One had all the big US programmes, such as ER, X-Files, Friends.

It's daytime schedule could do with some work as well.

some WORK!!

it needs a complete overhaul!

Well done.