ITN and NTL join in multi-platform news venture

ITN has launched a 24-hour multi-platform news service, available over the internet, digital TV, and direct to notebook PCs and handheld devices via Psion's wavefinder technology.

The launch marks a turning point for the media firm, which will be offering news direct to consumers for the first time in its 45-year history, taking it into direct competition with digital offerings from the BBC and BSkyB.

Speaking to silicon.com, Stewart Purvis, CEO of ITN, said: "This channel is different to anything else on the market. Video-on-demand and text-on-demand are the kind of services that really put the consumer in control."

Telecoms and ISP (Internet Service Provider) company, NTL, will act as a partner for the service, by offering it directly to its customer base.

Leigh Wood, COO at NTL, said: "This won't be anything like traditional media. As we move forward to the interactive world, we're looking at a very different kind of information channel."

ITN and NTL claim the service is available immediately over 10 different video and audio platforms, with an Orange videophone-based product planned to roll-out 'in the near future'.

A spokeswoman for the BBC said: "We welcome competition. In the end competition always means the viewer wins."

A spokeswoman for Sky Digital also welcomed the launch. "We gladly accept competition. Sky is the market leader for digital interactive TV, and we fully intend to keep that market position," she said.