ITV will use AI to tailor adverts for its viewers

ITV’s online viewers could soon be targeted with adverts based on the programmes they are watching.

The broadcaster is planning to use artificial intelligence to select advertising tailored to joyous or tragic moments in drama and news programmes on its ITV Hub streaming service.

The media giant is set to launch a pilot of the new technology early next year, internally dubbed ‘moments, objects, moods’ or ‘MOM’.

Under the plan, a relationship break-up scene in Coronation Street could soon be followed by an advert for a dating app or a holiday firm.

The technology is also able to scan scenes for products such as food and cars, inserting adverts for pizzas and vehicles in the next advert break as soon as 30 seconds afterwards.

ITV director of advanced advertising, Rhys McLachlan, told The Mail on Sunday: ‘We’ve always been aware what is in the shows – you don’t advertise a car just after a car crash in drama. But this takes that to the next level, scanning what’s being screened in detail and in real time.

‘If there are moments of elation, joy, sadness, crisis, we can tell what it is and input it.’

ITV this month forecast a sharp rise in its advertising revenue, its best performance in its 66-year history, aided by the post-pandemic bounceback and the delayed Euro 2020 football tournament.