Procter and Gamble are pulling out of the Zip TV interactive advertising consortium.

The Zip TV consortium was brought together in 2003 to provide funding for a dedicated interactive television advertising service in the UK to act as an alternative in the marketplace to that offered at the time by BSkyB.

Procter & Gamble, which recently acquired Gillette to create one of the world’s largest consumer product companies, is a major television advertiser in the UK. The development is a blow to Zip TV’s original proposition, which united a number of leading advertisers to pool their learning about interactive television.

In a statement, the founding partners of the Zip TV consortium thanked P&G for their support in the initiative, noting that Zip’s business had evolved and as a result they had formed a more traditional client-agency relationship with a number of consortium members, adding “In this respect, it is understandable that competitive companies within the consortium may seek to work with alternative agencies elsewhere.”

Unilever remains a member of the consortium of advertisers. Jill Armitage, head of direct communication at Unilever said “Findings from the Zip Consortium have been extremely valuable in helping our team learn and shape our thinking in this area. We are impressed with Zip’s understanding of the market and their ability to produce award winning creative work. We are looking forward to continued sharing going forward.”

www.ziptelevision.com