ITV Insider: Speaking at SXSW

With Ruth Berry : President - Global Partnerships & Zoo 55

This weekend I will be excitedly packing my bags for the long haul trip to Austin Texas for SXSW.

SXSW has long been seen as one of THE cultural events in the Global calendar. Whether it’s ex-President Obama (and former First Lady this year) speaking about how technology can solve problems or New Order doing a Keynote in the music section - the festival is bound to produce headlines the world over.

So it’s brilliant to be asked to speak there with a view from ITV Studios as it really does show?the impact we are making in the digital field.?

Media expert Evan Shapīro has been making waves in the industry talking about the changing landscape - so it’s great that he’ll be chairing our panel on Monday.

Alongside my fellow panel members from Paramount, Barb and Comscore we’ll be talking about the ‘User Centric Era’. It’s a real opportunity to discuss changing audiences and platforms and the diverse challenges we have today

ITV Studios launched?the Digital label Zoo 55 in January - we’ve been tracking and adapting to finding our audiences across digital platforms over the last few years, and Zoo 55 is the evolution of that fun journey so far. It demonstrates that we’re no longer just a TV company - we’re a content owner of some of the world’s most recognizable IP that audiences enjoy in many different ways and places.

So whether it’s a FAST channel dedicated to The Graham Norton Show, a Global YT Channel for the best clips from Love Island or a metaverse experience being a coach on The Voice - we’re making the content available wherever and however the audiences want to view, or play with it.?

And we have an incredibly hard-working and knowledgeable team of people behind it who know what works and how to optimise those channels. Shown by the fact that in 2024 we’ve had over 25 billion views across digital channels and over 338 million hours watched on YouTube alone.?

We're testing genres, learning what works best with our audiences on the newer platforms and doing that alongside our traditional distribution business. It’s all about enlarging the ecosystem for fans of our IP. It’s a very fast moving world that’s developing new tools, new forms of content and new platforms all the time.

So I am looking forward to discussing this with others and it will be interesting to see the different challenges and solutions they too have in place.

I’m also looking forward to being blown away by the other attendees with new and different businesses and embracing new technologies in this ever changing industry. There is still so much to learn.?

Ruth will be on the panel: The User-Centric Era is Here! Taking place at 11.30am at The Line, Topaz Ballroom 1-2-3, SXSW on Monday 10th March.?