With the launch date of ITVX, the upcoming streaming service that’s set to replace ITV Hub, getting close – ITV announced today eight shows that will stream exclusively on the service, without going through ITV’s linear channels.
In total, ITVX is set to launch with 9,000 free (with adverts) hours of on-demand content, including 35 flagship shows, 200+ series and 250+ films, with more content offered on the Premium (paid) tier.
Among the exclusive-to-ITVX shows is Litvinenko, starring David Tennant and Mark Bonnar, the four-part psychological thriller Without Sin, cold war drama A Spy Among Friends starring Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce, and more.
What Is ITVX?
ITVX signals ITV’s new “digital-first” approach, and will be a major revamp of ITV’s existing streaming app, ITV Hub, turning it into a full-blown streaming service that will try to compete with the likes of Netflix and Disney+.
ITVX is also set to replace the ITV Hub app wherever it is currently available – so on Smart TVs, streaming devices like the Roku and Fire TV, Freeview Play recorders, mobile phones, tablets and more.
The streaming service will have 15,000 hours of content (compared to 4,000 on ITV Hub), and new shows will launch on the service every week, often months before their broadcast on ITV’s linear channels, or even exclusive to ITVX – like the shows announced today.
Most importantly, ITVX will be a free – with adverts – service, first and foremost. However, there will also be a premium, paid tier, which will remove all the adverts when you’re watching on-demand content.
Almost all of ITVX’s content will be available – at the same time – on both the free and premium tiers, with one exception (that we know of now) – BritBox, which will be a “bonus” for the Premium tier subscribers (read more about the changes coming to BritBox UK here).
ITVX is set to launch “just in time for FIFA World Cup”, sometime in November 2022, and its pricing (for the premium tier) hasn’t been announced yet – but we assume it will be similar to what BritBox is now – £5.99/month.
Exclusive Shows Coming To ITVX
ITV has some bold content plans for ITVX, with a combination of new, exclusive British content, catch-up programmes from ITV’s linear channels and American shows.
Last month, ITVX announced agreements with Glaswegian-based Anime Ltd, to bring over 500 episodes and 200 hours of anime content, and with CBS Reality, bringing 200 hours of true crime content to ITVX at launch.
This week, ITVX gave us more details on eight new titles that will be exclusively available on the platform, either later this year or in 2023:
Litvinenko
David Tennant stars as Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian Federal Security Services and KGB officer whose death from polonium poisoning in November 2006 triggered one of the most complex and dangerous investigations in the history of the Metropolitan Police.
Written by acclaimed screenwriter George Kay (Lupin, Criminal), Litvinenko is the story of the determined Scotland Yard Officers who worked for ten years to prove who was responsible.
A Spy Among Friends
The hotly anticipated cold war series is based on the New York Times best-selling book written by Ben Macintyre.
The series, produced in the UK, stars Emmy Award-winning actor Damian Lewis (Homeland, Billions) and Emmy Award-winner Guy Pearce (Jack Irish, Mare of Easttown).
The six-episode series dramatises the true story of Nicholas Elliott and Kim Philby, two British spies and lifelong friends. Philby was the most notorious British defector and Soviet double agent in history.
This is a story of intimate duplicity; loyalty, trust and treachery. Philby’s deeply personal betrayal, uncovered at the height of the Cold War, resulted in the gutting of British and American Intelligence.
Riches
A glossy, high-stakes family drama in six parts, written and created by Abby Ajayi (Inventing Anna, How To Get Away With Murder).
Deborah Ayorinde (Them, Truth Be Told) stars as Nina, the estranged daughter of self-made millionaire Stephen Richards played by Hugh Quarshie (Stephen, The Murder of Stephen Lawrence).
Sarah Niles (Ted Lasso, I May Destroy You) plays Stephen’s second wife, Claudia, and Brendan Coyle (Downton Abbey, Requiem) is Stephen’s trusted advisor and confidante, Gideon.
Tell Me Everything
A provocative new teen drama created by Mark O’ Sullivan (Lee and Dean, The Agency), it explores what it’s like to be coming of age in the 2020s.
Tell Me Everything introduces us to 16-year-old Jonny Murphy (Eden. H Davies), who is trying his best to navigate through this world.
Growing up hasn’t been easy, and although loved by his friends and family, Jonny suffers from undiagnosed depression and anxiety which he does his best to hide.
So when he is faced with the most gut-wrenching tragedy, Jonny has to decide – is he going to let events overtake him or is he going to learn how to live?
Without Sin
A four-part psychological thriller exploring the relationship which develops between a grieving mother and the man she believes murdered her daughter.
BAFTA and RTS award-winning actress Vicky McClure (Line of Duty, This is England, Broadchurch, Trigger Point) will play the leading role of Stella Tomlinson, whose 14-year-old daughter Maisy, is found dead at their family home with the bloodied, hooded figure of Charles Stone standing over her.
Acclaimed film and television actor, Johnny Harris (The Salisbury Poisonings, Medici, Troy: Fall of a City) will star alongside Vicky as Charles.
A Year On Planet Earth
This unique and beautifully shot series, narrated by Stephen Fry, will showcase the many wonders of the natural world and will reveal the incredible ways in which all life is connected and how massive natural events affect the lives of individual animals.
Loaded In Paradise
A brand new reality series that sees party-loving pairs hop across Greece’s Aegean Islands in a race to take control of – and spend 50,000 euros.
PLEBS: Barbarian Invasion
A feature-length version of the multi-award-winning comedy series which reunites Marcus, Grumio and Aurelius for one last time.
I wonder if it will have live news which is already missing from the ITV Hub apps on many smart devices E.g. LG TV sets.