ITV misses out on fortune from Boyle clip

Susan Boyle. Photo / AP

ITV, Britain's biggest commercial terrestrial television station, has missed out on sharing a million-pound windfall from clips of Scottish singing sensation Susan Boyle uploaded on to video website YouTube.

Boyle's performance on ITV's Britain's Got Talent has attracted more than 100 million hits on the site in a fortnight as the 47-year-old church volunteer continues to captivate a huge global audience.

But the financially beleaguered channel has insisted that no advertisements be shown alongside the clips until it has thrashed out a deal with Google, which owns YouTube. The stalemate has meant that no one - not ITV, nor producer Simon Cowell nor YouTube - has been able to cash in.

Estimates of how much ITV - and the show's producers, Talkback Thames, and Simon Cowell's company, Syco - could have lost vary between 500,000 ($1.28 million) and 1.5 million. ITV has been battered by an advertising slump recently and is cutting hundreds of jobs.

Fremantle Media, which owns the digital distribution rights to Britain's Got Talent outside Britain, made the first move towards capitalising on Boyle's internet success.

It set up an official Britain's Got Talent channel on YouTube, and intends to rake in what it can from future clips shown around the world, excluding Britain. It does not matter whether the clips are uploaded by a fan or by ITV because the revenue generated goes to the copyright owner under YouTube regulations.

ITV seemed to be moving towards rectifying a situation that has dragged on for two weeks and left experts amazed. What observers cannot understand is why the broadcaster has failed to take advantage of the millions visiting the Boyle sites - money that is now lost forever.

An ITV spokesman confirmed the company was in discussions with YouTube.

He said: "ITV, Talkback Thames and Syco are exploring the options for monetising traffic on YouTube. We are delighted that Britain's Got Talent has been such a success across all of ITV's platforms.

"Obviously any deal would have to be something that worked for all parties concerned."

ITV.com, which shows footage from the show and contains adverts, has seen a 700 per cent increase in user traffic, garnering more than 11 million hits.

Boyle's international audience has learned of her mainly through YouTube. Her new fans even include the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, who asked British Prime Minister Gordon Brown about her after delivering a speech at the Adam Smith College in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, last week. Annan was overheard asking: "So, tell me about Susan Boyle," with Brown responding: "Well, it's absolutely amazing. This woman has come from nowhere and has become a celebrity all over the world."

Part of ITV's reluctance to agree a deal with YouTube could be because it wants to maintain the traffic to its own website.

Another explanation could be ITV chief executive Michael Grade's public loathing of YouTube, which he has branded a "parasite" living off TV shows and content created by the commercial broadcaster. Grade's announcement last week that he was stepping down as chief executive may help to thaw relations.

YouTube claims most of the ad revenue goes to the copyright owner.

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