ITN has named August 1 as the launch date for the ITN News Channel. Describing the venture as the “World’s first fully convergent digital news channel” ITN chief executive Stewart Purvis listed the ten ways the channel will be available to the viewer. These include carriage deals with partner NTL (on digital and analogue cable), CWC, Telewest (again in digital homes), digital satellite, digital terrestrial, video streaming, WAP phones and digital audio.

The digital terrestrial carriage is limited; just four hours between 05:00 and 09:00 in the SDN multiplex. ITN (and ONdigital) shareholders Carlton and Granada, each with a 20 per cent holding, have therefore swallowed a little pride in making the ITN News Channel available to Sky Digital homes. The two ITV companies have been behind the network’s refusal to join the Sky Digital platform. The satellite deal has been done directly with SES-Astra, although ITN will appear on the Sky EPG, within the News section. NTL will be providing the uplink for the channel and is already transmitting an NTL testcard ahead of the channel’s launch.

Interactive coverage will be made available to cable operators and ITN is also promising to develop an enhanced service for satellite viewers. Such an extension would be dependent on reaching an agreement with Sky in order to access its digital boxes.