Netplay extends ITV agreement
Jackpot247 to be broadcast on ITV for further two years.
NetPlay TV has signed a two-year broadcast agreement with ITV, which will see the operator’s Jackpot247 live roulette aired on the channel.
Jackpot247 will be shown for two hours, four nights a week on ITV1, and follows a rolling deal with the station to broadcast Challenge Jackpot, after an initial six-month trial agreement to air Roulette Nation and a bingo show, signed in April 2010.
NetPlay CEO Charles Butler, who replaced founder Martin Higginson in November 2010, said that he was pleased to have renewed the agreement: “We have worked closely with the team at ITV over the last two years to optimise the show, and to sign for a further two years is a significant and exciting development.
The original deal was agreed after ITV reclassified their gambling content as teleshopping, and the channel’s director of commerce and ventures William van Rest commented: “As a key launch partner on ITV1’s teleshopping initiative in 2010 we are delighted to renew our relationship with NetPlayTV and their Jackpot 247 product, and we are looking forward to building on the success of our night time output.”
The agreement follows the signing of a five-year contract with with Channel 5 to broadcast NetPlay’s Supercasino live casino offering in October last year, renewing the original deal inked in 2009.
After issuing a profit warning in June 2010 following Higginson’s resignation NetPlay has undergone a revival, with its average daily revenues up 20% year-on-year in its trading update for the first quarter of 2012. The company also announced the addition of a live roulette product to its Supercasino iPad app in January.