COO Arjan Pomper: ITV Studios is in great shape
BY Yako Molhov
Arjan Pomper was appointed COO Global Entertainment in July last year, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. A year later, the company continues to grow in terms of sales, format development and financial performance thanks to the new successful strategy of the company.

In this interview, Mr. Pomper also tells Yako Molhov how ITV Studios tackled the pandemic and what new trends the company has observed on the market in terms of content demand from broadcasters and streamers and the ongoing consolidation in the TV industry.
Arjan Crop
Arjan, in 2020 you were appointed COO of Global Entertainment at ITV Studios, joining at a time the company went through some restructuring and further expansion. A year later, how does ITV Studios stand on the international TV scene?
We’re in great shape. Our strategy of creating three centers of excellence - with our creative network, global distribution and global entertainment, working with our international production labels and third-party producers, has proven to be a very successful way of approaching the market. You need at least a year to see how your approach lands and now we can honestly say that we’re more than pleased with our results. Compared to our direct competitors, we have proven to be very strong in terms of sales performance, format development and financial performance.

The coronavirus pandemic is far from over. What lessons have you learned from it and what adjustments did you make to continue to operate successfully?
COVID has demonstrated that ITV Studios is an agile, future-facing, solutions-driven business which prides itself on being a partner - understanding what its clients want and working on solutions that serve its clients. Our productions have never completely stopped, demonstrating the astounding flexibility of our production teams. Our teams swiftly found ingenious ways to keep producing, in a safe way. For example, with Love Island this meant creating a so-called “bubble” in which our entire team and cast were separated from the outside world in order to keep them safe and healthy. Our studio productions continued in some cases without an audience, or sometimes even with a digital audience or coaches, like with The Voice of Holland. Our sales team has proven that presentations and sales meetings are successfully done digitally. So overall, a hybrid way of working has been fully embraced and our teams have proven their creativity and flexibility. Nevertheless, we naturally look forward to in-person meetings and welcoming a live audience to our productions.

Beat the Chasers


You are among the Top 3 content producers in the world. What trends have you observed on the various markets in terms of content? Is drama still the top priority? Is entertainment gaining background?
We’ve seen that there is a general focus on particular genres right now: Talent, Dating, Cooking and Reality. I’d say these are the four current big trends. What’s also notable is the increasing demand of Non-Scripted entertainment with the streamers.

Also, SVOD platforms have gained a lot of ground as well as BVODS. We’re seeing a lot of experimenting with BVODS actually. For example, for one of our launch titles Ready to Mingle: the first five episodes were made available on BVOD, while linearly the episodes were daily. This way, binge-lovers wouldn’t have to wait for the linear broadcast every night. Certain types of content are viewed preferentially on BVOD/SVOD, Love Island is also a great example of this.

Finally, we’ve seen that size does in fact matter. I’m referring to the consolidation of broadcasters and streamers at all levels, local and global. Central coordination and purchasing will be next. We will see the buying power shift towards bigger deals done on a bigger scale.


Global Entertainment is the home for some of the most powerful unscripted formats in the world such as The Voice, Love Island, The Chase, I’m A Celebrity, and Come Dine with Me. Are these still your best-selling formats and what have been some of your latest hits?
These are definitely still our most powerful (unscripted) formats: The Voice currently has 137 local adaptations; Love Island is currently in 21 territories; The Chase is up to 17 territories; I’m A Celebrity is in 15 territories (including the castle edition) and Come Dine with Me is in 46 territories.

Love Island


I’m A Celebrity is one of our older formats but has grown more than ever this year. We aim to keep the longevity of our formats strong by constantly renewing the formats through shoulder concepts, new elements, or new locations like with The Castle Edition of I’m A Celebrity. Our Castle Edition expands the possibilities of this format in terms of production and location, attracting new territories and clients. I’d say a few of our latest hits have been Beat the Chasers, spin-off of The Chase and currently commissioned in five territories. Let Love Rule, our latest dating hit, which is now in six territories. And our newest addition to The Voice franchise: The Voice Generations. This exciting new spin-off will definitely cover lots of ground, already commissioned by Australia and Lithuania.

You have decided not to attend MIPCOM this year. What are the advantages of hosting your own ITV Studios Festivals?
Our long-term partnership with Reed Midem is important to us, but the current situation with international COVID restrictions means there was too much uncertainty to be able to commit to building our popular ITV Studios House at MIPCOM this year.

While we have to acknowledge the challenging times, we have been living through which have inevitably impacted our decision-making, ITV Studios has enjoyed great success with its online festivals. We found a way to present our new formats virtually and make this spectacular and entertaining to our clients. We’d like to build on that with this new edition. Naturally, we look forward to real life client contact and will return to markets and festivals soon.

The Voice Generations


When do you expect to return to the big in-person markets?
COVID restrictions means we have to continue to monitor and make decisions much closer to the time. We don’t want to endanger our colleagues or clients, so we put safety first. As soon as it’s possible to attend the big in-person markets in a safe way, applying to our national measurements, we’ll seize this opportunity for sure.
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