Five is to overhaul its video-on demand service Demand Five and integrate it more closely with its main Five.tv website.
The broadcaster expects to increase the number of video streams it serves from 45 million in 2009 to up to 150 million this year, and is keen to merge the two services to grow usage and ad sales.
Five will bring its short-form and long-form content together in one place as part of the changes, scheduled to take place in August.
It is also developing an aggressive mobile strategy and plans to offer consumers access to Demand Five across Android and iPhone devices and via mobile browsers.
Five digital media head Jonathan Lewis said it was vital to offer a converged VoD service.
“We’re relaunching Five.tv and Demand Five to bring the two together as one,” he said. At the moment, they’re two separate portals, but if you look at the US broadcasters they have successfully embedded their catch-up services into their sites.”
“We want to increase dwell time and usage of the site, and we can monetise short-form content as well as long-form and deliver more ad impressions.”
Five is currently recruiting for a managing editor, along with several technical positions, as it beefs up its digital team ahead of the move.
Lewis has gone on to strike a range of syndication deals for Demand Five with partners such as websites YouTube, Seesaw and TV.com, connected-TV manufacturers Samsung and Sony, and is in talks to roll out on PlayStation 3.
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