TVCatchup hires 24/7 for ad push

by Andrew McCormick, Media Week 17-Dec-07, 16:00

LONDON - TVCatchup, the soon-to-launch website billing itself as an online video recorder, has hired WPP ad sales house 24/7 Real Media to sell ads around the service.

The startup venture, which enables people to record shows from 'traditional' broadcasters such as the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Virgin Media and Sky, has set 24/7 Real Media goals to sell banner ads, pre-roll video ads and text advertising, ahead of the full launch of the service in January.

TVCatchup has been in a test phase since the start of December and intends to launch with a range of live ad campaigns on 1 January.

Adam Smith, one of the website's founders, has set a target of attracting 100,000 users a day by the end of next year.

TVCatchup also plans to launch a mobile version of the site in Q2 2008.

TVCatchup is one of a range of TV services set for launch in 2008. The BBC, Channel 4 and ITV are teaming to launch a joint venture on-demand service, codenamed Kangaroo, while News Corp and NBC Universal are likely expand the availability of Hulu.com next year.