ITV's online arm ITV.com has announced the signing of a deal with social networking website Bebo to distribute its television shows for free.By joining Bebo's Open Media platform the broadcaster will allow some 40 million Bebo users to gain free and open access to a variety of programmes over the internet.
ITV.com will create a member profile on the site, through which a number of media channels will be hosted.
Each channel will be dedicated to a specific show, allowing Bebo users to receive updates on new content by becoming a "fan" of the channel in question. Members will also be able to engage with content such as blogs, galleries and message boards for each show.
The videos will be powered by ITV.com's Brightcove player and will see US show Gossip Girl become the first programme to be distributed via Bebo as well as through ITV2.
"We are delighted to be working with ITV channels to join the Bebo Open Media platform offering their audience access to some of our best and most relevant content," commented Annelies Van den Belt of ITV.com.
"This is a targeted move to promote specific ITV2 shows to the Bebo audience whilst ultimately driving traffic to ITV.com to watch more."
Other firms that have created profiles on Bebo through Open Media include Yahoo! and SpikeTV.
Bebo launched an open application platform in December last year, enabling third party developers to make use of its programming interface to create applications for the website.
