ITV viewers warned as popular streaming service is quietly shut down – check if your TV is affected
ITV has quietly axed its Catchup channel on Amazon’s Prime Video, leaving fans baffled.
The ITV Catchup channel, previously known as ITV Hub+, allowed Prime Video viewers to dodge adverts for cheaper.
For advert-haters, the Prime Video version was cheaper than a full ITVX Premium subscription – and it gave them access to more content.
For an fee of £3.99 per month on top of their Prime subscription, subscribers could access ITV’s biggest hits without the interruption of adverts alongside Amazon’s own library of shows and movies.
ITV Catchup on Prime Video also let viewers with older devices watch content that is now only on ITVX.
ITVX is ITV’s sparkly – relatively new – streaming app, which it launched at the end of 2022.
The move leaves ITVX as the only destination to catch up on missed shows from the broadcasting house.
However, ITVX is not currently available on some older TVs.
A range of Humax Freeview and Freesat boxes, as well as certain models of Samsung Smart TVs, are unable to support the new ITVX app.
ITVX doesn’t work on some older iPhones and iPads, either.
For viewers with older telly boxes, ITV Catchup on Prime Video was the only way to watch ITV without an Amazon Fire Stick or Google Chromecast.
It appears to be another attempt by ITV to streamline its services and channels.
Last year the CITV channel closed down after 17 years on screen and went online-only with ITVX Kids.
The broadcaster also joined the BBC in dismantling its standard definition channels in early January, including ITV3, ITV4 and ITVBe.
These channels are now only available in high definition, on HD supported TVs.
It also allows ITV to increase the number its own subscriptions for ITVX Premium, which costs £5.99 per month to remove adverts and watch BritBox and Studio Canal Presents content.
Without Catchup on Prime Video, viewers will need to upgrade their TVs or buy compatible streaming devices, like a Fire Stick.
Where to buy a Fire TV Stick
Fire TV Sticks are an easy way to add streaming to an older television. They’re manufactured by Amazon, but you can buy them from a number of different stores.
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