Major Uk Radio Groups Sign Up To Irn Video Deal

UNDER STRICT EMBARGO 0800 HOURS 02 JUNE 2008

Major UK radio groups sign up to IRN video deal

Service offered free to radio stations London 02.06.08

The UK's largest radio groups have signed a deal with commercial radio news supplier IRN for a 24/7 breaking news video service. All Gcap, Bauer, GMG, Tindle, Lincs and TLRC stations will take the feed of news, entertainment and sports video for their websites.

The content is provided by ITN's multimedia division, ITN On who also produce the IRN radio news service. The video service will be available on 175 station websites at launch on June 4th and rolled out to the rest of the 250 IRN network stations by the end of the summer. The service is offered free to stations in return for advertising on their website.

The feed features both video and text stories of UK, world, sport and showbiz news. Stations will also be able to offer its listeners a selection of funny and viral videos - a collection of some of the more 'off -beat' stories from around the globe. There will also be special video reports from red carpet film premieres and all the latest music news including reports from the leading music festivals.

Jon Godel, Editor of IRN & ITN On said: 'This is a very exciting time for radio. We've been moving our radio and our video teams closer together for some time preparing for this moment. We're delighted all the major radio groups have come on board. They realise how video can enhance their presence online and broaden their brands appeal.'

John Perkins, Managing Director of IRN added: 'This is one of the most significant developments for IRN for many years. It means we can now offer a full content service for our stations supplying everything from audio and video clips to live news bulletins, scripts and colour photographs.

'No other commercial news supplier provides anything like this range of services to its customers and free of charge. The fact that ITN is the supplier means we can guarantee the content will be of the highest quality editorially and visually.'

For more information please contact John Nolan in the ITN press office on 020 7430 4216/0777 9329187 or email john.nolan@itn.co.uk

About IRN IRN is the major news and content provider to commercial radio in the UK supplying 250 radio stations with a combined audience of 24 million listeners. IRN also distributes a range of other programming to commercial radio stations including the two commercial chart shows -Hit 40 UK and Fresh 40.

About ITN On ITN On is part of ITN, one of the world's leading news and multimedia content companies. ITN On is the UK's leading supplier of news and other video entertainment content to broadband, mobile phone and radio platforms.

ITN On pioneered video news on mobile in Europe, launching with 3 in 2003 and was the first UK company to create made-for-mobile news and weather channels. ITN On's key business partners include, Vodafone, 3, Orange, MSN, IRN, Telegraph Group, Yahoo, Bebo and YouTube.