A good story on ITV’s recently launched local broadband channels in UK…two weeks into the launch, the site is “pulling in tens of thousands of hits, with average usage time of 20 to 25 minutes”, says the company. ITV is working with UK technology company Narrowstep to deliver the new broadband channels so they have a good video quality even at a fairly low broadband speed of 256kbps.

Lindsay Charlton, the managing director of ITV Meridian and director of the ITV Local project, believes the ITV Local channels could become a standalone ITV business, leveraging ITV’s brand and content while tapping into an estimated £2bn of local classified advertising across the UK that until now has been the exclusive domain of local newspapers.

Charlton says it cost ITV “slightly more than £50,000” to launch the two broadband channels, which is considerably less than the £750,000 to £1m it costs to launch a niche digital TV channel on Sky.

Related: UK Broadcaster Launches Broadband Trial