Britain’s Got Talent Lets ITV.com Dream A Dream

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Britain’s Got Talent Lets ITV.com Dream A Dream

Update: An ITV (LSE: ITV) spokesperson told paidContent:UK: “We understand people will go to YouTube, but it starts with the TV content. Without the TV content, they wouldn’t have anything to put up there. Social networks have a role to play in driving that content - but it drives people back to TV and to ITV.com - it’s pushing people back to find more professional content online. Our video views for Britain’s Got Talent are up over 200 percent from last year.”

Original: Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse for ITV’s website, which is laying off a third of its content team, along comes Britain’s Got Talent to give it a boost. One of the show’s contestants, in particular - “unlikely” would-be pop star Susan Boyle - is helping the show’s site bring a big international traffic boost to what, after selling Friends Reunited and closing ITV Local, will be the broadcaster’s main online destination.

Guardian.co.uk on Thursday: “(The show’s site) had attracted 500,000 page impressions between midnight and around 10am today, with visitors up by 147 percent year on year and video views jumping a huge 500 percent).”

Britain’s Got Talent, which can veer dangerously toward its X-Factor sibling in focusing on vulnerable contestants, is ideally suited to online video, since each talent contestant gets only a few short minutes to impress the judges - an ideal length for viral sharing.

We’d like to credit ITV bosses with having devised the show as a 360-degree commission in this way, and this is exactly what ITV.com should be doing - but the majority of views for Boyle’s performance (11 million, Guardian.co.uk estimates) have come from unofficial YouTube videos and not from ITV.com, which encourages social network sharing but does not allow videos to be embedded off-site. Most of the ads ITV wires in to its own clips are, therefore, lost to the broadcaster.

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Robert Andrews

@robertandrews Apr 16, 2009 6:10 AM ET

Posted In: Media & Publishing, TV, VOD, Companies, ITV

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Marga Schnell

It has been an amazing wonderful time to watch this great and "best in show" of the year.
I wonder if one could not have two competition and seperate the children from the adults and have for the under 16 a sepreate talent contest ( to take the preassure away for this young talents) and ask the Royal Variety show to have TWO contestent integrated as it shows the best of G.B. and there could be no better representation then coming out of the public.
Give us more of such quality reality show.

fiona

i thought diversity was amazing there moves was remarkable i also thought susan was out standing they both deserved it tonight and i voted for both of them i would love to know how close it was tonight i thought natalie and the vixin with the violen was also remarkable

chelsea whitcher

could you give me the email adress for britains got talent please coz a want loads of hits like u chelsea whitcher from alexandria scotland bonhill age 11

chelseawhitcher

graet but a would like the chance to do that i uaditioned but never got through hope i could be loved for singing like u lol from chelsea whitcher age 11

Buddy Eldorado

This lady has her head screwed on properly. She's a lot smarter than the public
thinks she is. Talk about timing… Although it took years to recognize her, thanks
to the internet, she's going to be a huge success. Enjoy, Susan, enjoy! You have
been blessed.

William Bryson

Her voice is simply incredible.

I do hope the fame doesnât go to her head; there are rumors she is considering plastic surgery! Part of her charm is her natural beauty. . .

fatness instructor

"famous for 15 minutes" anyone ?

San Ying

Elaine Page would now wish she had a voice like Susan Boyle.

zoltan

Sure: Without the TV content, they wouldnât have anything to put up there.
Without the intrenet, it would just be another talent programme and not the world wide freakshow it has become.