ITV Essentials to offer European access to shows

Coronation Street and Emmerdale are among the line up from ITV Essentials, a brand new international service giving ex-pats and holidaymakers the opportunity to watch their favourite ITV soaps, while abroad.

The service, created in partnership with specialists in the management and delivery of OTT solutions, Saffron Digital, launches on Tuesday the 12th of November 2013 in twelve European territories and will be available for a monthly subscription of €5.49 at www.itvessentials.co.uk.

ITV Essentials will stream all episodes of Britain’s favourite soaps – Coronation Street and Emmerdale – without ads and will include a 30 day catch up window. The service will initially be Wifi only.

This is a landmark deal for ITV. We are thrilled that we can now deliver the UK’s favourite soaps to the millions of British fans living and visiting abroad. In Saffron Digital we have found the perfect partner to bring these ambitions to life. – ITV’s Controller of Pay and Distribution, Neale Dennet

Using its MainStage video platform, Saffron Digital has designed and developed the service for simultaneous launch in the different territories. The end to end solution which includes DRM, a secure player, international geo blocking and filtering, as well as payment and subscription management, will enable ITV to deliver a seamless experience to its viewers throughout Europe.

ITV Essentials will be open for business in Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Gibraltar, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Spain.