5 months ago
The broadcaster ITV has agreed to put up to £3m into nan wellness and fittingness app The Body Coach, created by Joe Wicks, who changeable to fame by getting group exercising successful their surviving rooms during nan Covid pandemic.
It is nan latest woody made done nan group’s media for equity finance money ITV AdVentures Invest. As portion of nan agreement, The Body Coach will advertise connected ITV’s channels and its video level ITVX.
Wicks launched nan app successful precocious 2020, capitalising connected nan prominence gained during nan Covid-19 lockdowns erstwhile he streamed regular workout videos online. It offers personalised workout plans, alongside a scope of patient recipes and entree to a online group to support users motivated.
The app’s TV commercialized will motorboat connected ITV connected 1 January and will beryllium broadcast during commercialized breaks during a show fronted by Joe Wicks connected ITV1 and ITVX.
The announcement comes astatine a challenging clip for ITV and other nationalist work broadcasters, weeks aft US media institution Comcast, which already owns Sky, began talks to bargain ITV’s broadcasting business.
Comcast bought Rupert Murdoch’s Sky for £30bn successful 2018 and besides owns assets including Universal Studios.
The talks person raised concerns astir nan early of news proviso successful nan UK, astatine a clip erstwhile accepted broadcasters are facing an existential threat arsenic audiences and revenues move to streaming services specified arsenic Amazon and Netflix and world integer companies specified arsenic Meta and Google.
Wicks said: “I ne'er imagined erstwhile I started my bootcamps successful nan parkland complete 12 years agone that The Body Coach would turn into a marque reaching millions of people.”
He said nan business pinch ITV would let him to “bring a positive, supportive connection astir wellness and wellbeing into millions of homes astatine a clip erstwhile group request it most”.
The fittingness and nutrition master has previously been turned into an animation arsenic portion of a collaboration pinch Studio AKA, which makes nan children’s TV bid Hey Duggee, to create five-minute workout videos for kids.
ITV launched its AdVentures Invest programme successful 2021 to alteration nan broadcaster to return number stakes successful early shape integer and direct-to-consumer businesses, alongside task superior investment, successful return for advertizing crossed ITV’s channels. This is aimed astatine helping user businesses to build standard done TV advertising.
The broadcaster has antecedently invested successful nan online property supplier Strike, which trades arsenic Purplebricks, nan furnishings value comparison website ufurnish.com and nan location app what3words.
