Telegraph online chief joins ITV to head broadband push

by Gordon MacMillan, Brand Republic 03-Jan-07, 08:40

LONDON - Annelies van den Belt, the former head of online at the Telegraph and Times Online, is to join ITV to head up the launch of its revamped website and broadband TV service.

Van den Belt, who left the Telegraph Group where she was new-media director in November, will launch the new broadband service, which is due to debut early this year.

The service will rival the BBC and Channel 4 online and will allow viewers to download all of the ITV's programmes.

Her appointment marks the start of a major investment push in digital media by ITV, which has been eclipsed by its broadcasting rivals online.

The new site will allow viewers to catch up on programmes they have missed up to 30 days after they have been broadcast, as well as offering a wide variety of archived programmes to download.

User-generated content will also play a major role on the new ITV site linked with the broadcaster's Friend's Reunited website, which it acquired in 2005 for £120m, with an additional £55m payable if performance targets are hit by 2009.

In December, ITV bought business directory service Scoot for around £3m in an effort to build its online advertising presence.

It hopes its new site will become a major entertainment destination and help it considerably boost its online revenues.

Van den Belt left the Telegraph Media Group after only 15 months having overseen the paper's digital revamp, which coincided with its moves to new offices in London's Victoria and a considering investment in its digital strategy.

Van den Belt joined the Telegraph from Times Online, where she was new-media development manager. She was recently nominated the ninth most influential person in UK online journalism in Press Gazette.

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