Brand Failures

Rebranding failures 215
former secretary of state for Culture, Media and Sport (who oversaw the
government’s digital plans until June 2001), in an interview with the
Guardian. ‘They should have aimed for a different part of the market.’
In 2001, ONdigital was rebranded ITV Digital, linking it to an established
and trusted brand name (ITV remains the most popular terrestrial channel
in the UK). However, the same problem remained. Viewers needed to buy
completely new equipment, which didn’t require a dish. In other words, it
was a completely new platform.
The technical problems were also an issue. The software used in the settop
boxes didn’t have enough memory and crashed frequently. As former
customer Bridget Furst explains:
I signed up for ONdigital in November 1999 as we live in a conservation
area and were told we couldn’t have a dish. But all the technical
breakdowns drove us dotty. The picture would freeze without warning,
three or four times a week. You had to phone for advice, give your
security password, queue for technical assistance, and then you needed
15 fingers to put things right. I was told that their software couldn’t
cope with the BBC channels on the platform.
Graham Simcocks, the company’s director until 2001, realizes that the
technological issues hindered development. ‘The business failed to take
seriously enough the whole range of technological issues: why the picture
kept disappearing, the need to boost its power. That was the biggest reason
for customers being put off. Then there were homes that were supposed to
be within a reception area but still had problems,’ he says.
Another factor was the lack of incentive to buy ITV Digital. Although
ITV’s major networks Carlton and Granada were behind the company, they
didn’t provide exclusive access to their major programmes. ‘I think Carlton
and Granada didn’t support it enough,’ says former ITV Digital sales director
Matthew Seaman. ‘They should have given it more exclusive programmes.
First runs of Coronation Street. Why not Pay-television isn’t something that
just happens. It needed a huge, bold move, equivalent to Sky’s Premier
League. But the shareholders never felt they could risk the ITV crown jewels.’
Few could understand exactly the point of the network. At first, it had
clearly tried to differentiate itself from BSkyB. Stephen Grabiner, ITV
Digital’s first chief executive, once referred to Murdoch’s multi-channel vision