Former ITV chairman Michael Grade has made a firm suggestion to broadcasters to begin charging for the use of online viewing services. Online content is currently provided for free by the majority of broadcasters alongside paid advertisements.
Speaking to magazine The Wire, Grade has urged broadcasters to take a different approach:
"What content owners are struggling with, and this is true of the music business too, is monetising the digital highways."
"If you download an app for 99p, you don't even think about it," he said. "Take the example of missing an episode of Downton Abbey. You say to yourself, 'Here's a chance to watch it on the train for £1.25.' You wouldn't even think about it. Or you're sitting at home and there is nothing on TV tonight. 'I know, let's watch that episode of Spooks we missed for 25p'."
Grade was criticised during his time at ITV between 2007 and 2009 for not investing in online content. Back in 2008, the chairman claimed sites such as YouTube and Google were "parasites".
"They're all parasites, they just live off our content is what they do. As long as we can create the content, the content is the keys to the castle for us going forward."
Grade is now the chairman for online grocer Ocado.
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