Channel 4 Selects Omniture

Omniture, Inc., a leading provider of online business optimisation software, today announced the company has been selected by Channel 4, a public service broadcaster in the UK, to help measure the impact of the broadcaster's investment in Web 2.0 technology.

Channel 4 is significantly increasing its investment in new media and particularly Web 2.0 applications and video-on-demand. The broadcaster has doubled its investment in new media over the past 12 months and this level of commitment is set to increase over the coming year.

Omniture will enable Channel 4 to understand how people use the site; how new developments and sub sites resonate with users; and to understand which parts of the site are driving revenue most effectively.

Omniture technology will also enable Channel 4 to understand which content is really engaging users and the paths they take through the site. For example: what drives people to watch videos online; where visitors come from; and what encourages people to move from reading text on the site, to watching clips, to downloading whole episodes or buying paid-for content.

Omniture will be used not only by the new media team at Channel 4, but also by site and programme editors and producers to understand what drives online viewing of particular programmes-as well as by Channel 4 management and technology teams.

Louise Brown, head of new media at Channel 4, says: "We needed a system that would benefit our editors and marketing teams who make programming decisions as much as our technical people. If a system can be used by the people who make programmes or who edit the sites, it's going to have a much greater impact on the business.

"It's early days, but we're starting to see the effects of Omniture already-we are updating our home page and a number of programme landing pages as a result of Omniture data."

Says Neil Weston, vice president and general manager, EMEA, Omniture: "Channel 4 is leading the market in using Web 2.0 to give its site visitors an interactive experience. Its investment in Web 2.0 needs to be commercially viable-there is no point in investing huge sums of money into interaction with your audiences if you don't measure the impact and that's where in-depth analytics come in to play."

By Omniture