ITV and 3 to Stream ITV1 on Mobiles

ITV and mobile media company 3 announced an exclusive deal to stream ITV1 - ITV's flagship channel - to 3's customers in the UK.

The deal will enable the 3.5 million customers on 3 to watch ITV1 and ITV Play - ITV's participation channel - live on their mobile phone. ITV1 is Britain's most popular commercial TV channel, playing all 300 of the top commercial programs on TV this year.

As well as being the UK's first live streamed terrestrial mobile channels, it will also become the largest service of its kind in the UK with coverage of more than 89% of the UK population.

Available from this autumn, ITV has granted an exclusive 3G mobile license to 3 for six months. This agreement is another in a series of TV firsts for 3. 3 was the first UK operator to bring TV content to mobile, the first to stream live TV, the first to stream a live music gig to mobile and the first operator to launch its own made-for-mobile TV channels.

Evidence from current mobile TV services indicates that mobile TV viewing is complementary to traditional viewing, with many people catching up whilst traveling, or when they aren't near a TV, creating a unique broadcast television experience on the move.