JUST over two months since it was launched, MTTV - the Isle of Man’s first on-demand HD TV news service - has established a loyal audience of viewers looking for the latest news delivered online in real time.
Figures released by MTTV show that it has more than 40,000 unique users - around 88 per cent of them in the island.
Google Analytics figures also show that since its launch on February 1 there have been more than 163,000 views of MTTV reports. The top rated video was on the recent Tower of Refuge charity walk which generated more than 5,000 views.
In total, viewers have watched more than 375,000 minutes of video which has included all the latest news reports and features about island life. MTTV - which can be viewed at www.manx.net/tv - is a free service provided by Manx Telecom.
It is fronted by former BBC North West Tonight and ITV Granada Reports journalist Paul Moulton, one of the island’s most experienced and best known broadcasters.
Video reports are uploaded to MTTV as soon as they have been edited so that viewers can see them when news breaks rather than waiting to watch a scheduled daily bulletin.
Paul said: ‘I’m delighted with these figures, they show that there is a real need for the on-demand video news which MTTV provides.
‘Viewers want to see the news as soon as it has happened, and this is what MTTV provides.
‘From the outset I’ve been excited by MTTV, it really is the future of how television news will look and it’s been great to bring this to Isle of Man viewers.
‘There has been an overwhelmingly positive reaction from the Manx public, and these statistics prove just how popular MTTV has become is such a short time.’
Mike Dee, Manx Telecom chief executive officer echoed Paul’s reaction to the statistics and said: ‘We were always confident that MTTV would be hugely popular, but it is satisfying to have its popularity confirmed with these figures. It proves that there is a huge appetite for high quality, on-demand video news, and Paul is doing a brilliant job of producing the type of coverage viewers want to watch and delivering it in real-time.
‘With our excellent broadband network and 3G mobile coverage, MTTV is available to everyone whether they are at home or on the move.
‘Our recent acquisition of the isleofman.com website will also soon include MTTV content, increasing the distribution even further to a wider off-Island audience.’
