Industry

ITV Studios announces it is to take its existing digital business to new heights by evolving it into its own label - Zoo 55. Martin Trickey, who joins from WarnerBros International TV Production in Jan 2025, is today named Managing Director, Zoo 55, reporting to Ruth Berry President, Global Partnerships & Zoo 55. Graham Haigh, currently EVP Digital, will partner with Martin as COO.

Set to launch in early 2025, Zoo 55 aims to be a leading force in digital entertainment on a global scale - taking more ITV Studios brands even further into digital including YouTube channels, social media and streaming platforms, building on the existing portfolio of 140 owned and operated channels on YouTube, 18 FAST channels across 17 territories and 100+ platform feeds globally. It will exploit more of the 90,000+ hours in the ITV Studios catalogue to see a number of new channels launching across AVOD and FAST, as well as creating environments for audiences to engage with its brands on immersive platforms like Roblox, Fortnite and Minecraft. As part of the launch plans, Metavision, the creative agency and studio led by Ashley Lewis, will migrate from ITV PLC to under the Zoo 55 banner.

ITV Studios’ digital portfolio has reached over 2bn views on YouTube alone this year and close to 8bn views across all social platforms, through channels such as The Voice Global, Hell's Kitchen, Celebs Up Close, and Our World. Its True Lives channel has just extended ITV Studios’ vast YouTube Play Button Collection with another Gold Award, upon reaching 1 million+ subscribers. The existing FAST channels suite has garnered many millions of viewing hours this year, across channels such as The Graham Norton Show, Come Dine With Me, River Monsters and Taste which are carried by partners like Samsung, Freevee, LG, Roku, Pluto and Seven.

Martin Trickey, said ““To be in at the start of any new venture is exciting but being asked to take the Managing Director role at Zoo 55 is an unparalleled opportunity. I know that with Ruth’s guidance and Graham’s experience we can grow Zoo 55 into a formidable digital content business.”

Ruth Berry, said “It is such an exciting time to be taking this area of the business to a whole new level - we’re ready, we’re experts at selling to audiences who come to the same places for the content they love, but more and more our end viewer is on the move so we want to engage with them in different ways wherever they are. Martin and Graham will be a dream team taking the business forwards as Zoo 55. Without a doubt, this venture works hand in glove with Global Partnerships as the streaming world expands across Free and Pay worlds. In part it's an evolution of our windowing strategy and the teams being in lockstep is critical.”

Graham Haigh, said “We've spent the last few years building a robust, successful digital business, taking our super brands and IP onto new platforms and delivering new audiences in this space. To evolve this work into the launch of Zoo 55 is incredibly exciting and I'm really looking forward to partnering with both Martin and Ruth to drive further growth in this ever-changing space"

In his former role as Group Head of Digital at WarnerBros International TV Production, Martin was responsible for developing and implementing the International production Group’s digital strategy, as well as digital content for brands, broadcasters and streamers. He provided strategic direction, insight and connection to platforms such YouTube, Snap, Meta and TikTok. He worked across well known titles such as The Voice, Super Nanny, First Dates and The Bachelor planning and executing the monetisation of IP. He also led the global social media marketing team as they explored new content types, revenue models and ways to reinvigorate and reinvent existing brands. Prior to this, Martin was Creative Director of Twofour Digital, part of ITV Studios and Head of Cross Platform Production for the BBC. He began his time at the BBC in 2007 as Comedy and Entertainment Commissioning Executive BBC and held the position for four years.

In his role as EVP, Global Digital Partnerships, Graham has been instrumental to the expansion of ITV Studios’ global Direct to Consumer and digital content strategies, interfacing with partners such as Samsung, Google, Meta, Amazon, Pluto and TikTok to create product offerings in the social, FAST and AVOD space.