Media Perspective: Don't forget the new media subtleties in the hunt for viewers.

ITV is banking on the bright 'camp-ness' of ballroom dancing to help drive its new film download service. The Australian classic Strictly Ballroom, along with The Shawshank Redemption and Educating Rita, are among the first films that will be available alongside ITV's existing online and broadband content. This shows ITV is throwing its weight behind ITV.com. It has said it believes the market will 'open up' this year, as audiences start to watch online content on their TVs and not on their PCs.

And ITV is not alone. While internet protocol TV is still a relatively new technology, the major broadcasters are racing to out-do each other with online content services to attract bigger audiences and offer new channels to advertisers.

Despite the infancy of this market, the pressure is already growing for tangible data about how many people are watching TV online. While action is needed to establish a measurement system to drive growth in the market, such a system is not looking that promising. A few weeks ago, Carolyn Fairburn, ITV's director of group development and strategy, issued a warning that online viewing models were lagging behind TV ratings systems, and her declaration doesn't paint an encouraging picture for online ratings measurements moving forward.

It's not surprising that the online industry is struggling to come close to agreeing on a single planning tool for the medium, and, while the various industry bodies meet to discuss whose ...