Five culls 15 web hosting deals to one

Broadcaster Five has consolidated a number of deals to run its websites into a single contract with managed services provider Claranet.

As well as ensuring the quality of its online service, the rationalisation of 15 hosting arrangements has saved approximately £100,000 for the channel, according to Five's digital controller Paul Thornton-Jones.

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The deal not only saves on costs but also frees up the company's IT team to tackle other projects and the development team to work on other online brands, Thornton-Jones told silicon.com.

The full migration of the sites to Claranet will be completed in the first half of this year.

The sites involved are the Five corporate website, FiveFWD, Five News and Five.tv. In the future, the Demand Five site, Five's video-on-demand service provided by BT Media and Broadcast, will also move to Claranet.

Thornton-Jones said: "We've reached a stage where there is a universal common understanding of how people want to use the web. Now we have the capability to deliver services like video on demand to viewers' homes and this has driven up numbers in terms of traffic."

According to Thornton-Jones unique visits have been increased from 1.2 million per month to 2.5 million per month over the 12 months from October 2007 to October 2008.