British commercial TV broadcaster ITV set a 2004 launch date for a new third channel on Wednesday and said it aimed to triple revenue from its non-terrestrial stations in three years.
ITV unveiled a new target to make £150 million (€273 million) of revenues from its digital channels - ITV2, ITV news channel and the soon-to-be-launched ITV3 - by 2007.
ITV said its net advertising revenues had improved and were up around 4.9 per cent in the six months to June. The firm controls more than half of the British commercial advertising market.
ITV said it would launch its ITV3 channel, aimed at the over-35s, in the fourth quarter of this year. It also said it would double the programming budget of its ITV2 channel, spending the extra cash on sports rights, US series and movies.
The launch of ITV3 and the additional investment in ITV2 would amount to £36 million, the broadcaster said.