Overview, company details, product information, news, events, rankings and Rep listings for ITV Ventures.
ITV Ventures closed after federal regulatory charges, lawsuits and criminal charges.
Original Npros business profile for ITV Ventures, preserved below for archival purposes:
ITV Ventures was a network marketing company launched in 2006 by Donald Barrett as an extension of his direct-response and infomercial businesses, including ITV Direct and Direct Marketing Concepts. Based in Beverly, Massachusetts, the company promoted what it called a "direct response network marketing" model, combining traditional multilevel marketing with nationally broadcast infomercials. Independent Business Owners, or IBOs, could sell products directly, recruit other distributors, and participate in a Home Agent Program that routed calls from consumers responding to ITV television advertising to participating representatives. The company promoted the model as a way for distributors to receive prospective customers without relying entirely on traditional prospecting or selling to friends and family. Contemporary reports indicated that ITV Ventures had attracted more than 20,000 independent business owners by 2008.
ITV Ventures primarily marketed nutritional supplements, health and wellness products, skincare products, and natural-health books. Products associated with the company included Almighty Cleanse, FlexProtex Advanced Formula, FlexProtex Soothing Cream, SeaVegg, Rice n Shine, Supreme Greens with MSM, Coral Calcium Daily, Vitassential Complete, and other dietary supplements. The company also marketed books and products associated with health author and infomercial personality Kevin Trudeau.
The compensation program combined retail sales with multilevel commissions. Independent Business Owners could earn money from personal product sales and commissions generated by their sales organizations. Contemporary descriptions of the plan identify a seven-level matrix structure, with commissions based on organizational sales volume. ITV Ventures also promoted its Home Agent Program, under which distributors could pay to receive and handle incoming calls generated by company infomercials, take customer orders, and potentially retain those customers for future purchases.
ITV Ventures ceased operating as an active network marketing opportunity in 2008. Reports from distributors indicated that the company stopped accepting new representatives on October 3, 2008, amid mounting financial and legal problems involving its affiliated companies and founder.
ITV Ventures closure is closely tied to significant federal regulatory actions involving Donald Barrett and the affiliated ITV Direct and Direct Marketing Concepts businesses. In 2004, the Federal Trade Commission sued Barrett, ITV Direct, and Direct Marketing Concepts over advertising claims for Supreme Greens with MSM and Coral Calcium. In 2009, a federal court ordered Barrett and the corporate defendants to pay $48.2 million for consumer refunds, finding that they had made deceptive health claims and, among other conduct, improperly charged some consumers' credit or debit cards. The court also imposed restrictions on future health and efficacy claims.
The FTC separately sued ITV Direct, ITV Global, Direct Marketing Concepts, and Barrett in 2007 over the marketing of Kevin Trudeau's book The Weight Loss Cure "They" Don't Want You to Know About, alleging that infomercials misrepresented the weight-loss protocol described in the book. That litigation ultimately resulted in a stipulated final judgment in 2012.
Barrett also faced federal criminal charges arising from activities connected to his earlier infomercial business. In May 2011, he pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return and causing the interstate distribution of misbranded Supreme Greens. Federal prosecutors said Barrett failed to report $573,724.94 in 2003 Coral Calcium profits. On September 29, 2011, he was sentenced to one year of probation, including three months in a community correction center followed by three months of home confinement with electronic monitoring.
Donald Barrett, Founder and President
Npros.com archives executive bios for ITV Ventures and other companies. Use the links below for specific executive biographies and related company history.
ITV Distributors are reporting that the company has closed their doors to new distributors as of October 3rd.This is in the wake of the recent FTC and US Court found ITV Direct and defendant Donald Barrett liable for up to $55 million dollars for deceptive claims.In the court decision, Judge O'Toole concluded that the corporate defendants ITV Direct and Direct Marketing Concepts are liable f...
The Beverly, Massachusetts supplment company found itself on the wrong side of judge's decision when the judge ruled that two informercials the company produced claiming their product could cure cancer were deceptive.The Federal Trade Commission and US District Court Judge George Otoole found three defendants liable for as much as $55 million in restitution as a result of the roles they played ...
TV Ventures is Launched The Newest Home Business Opportunity Date: Sunday, June 20, 2007 Medicine Lodge, ID - America's Supermompreneur praises ITV Ventures Home Business Opportunity. ITV Ventures will be the first ever to combine the Home Business Industry with a Multi-Million Dollar Infomercial Company, promoting products, which are Positively Impacting People. Members of ITV Ventures H...
Direct Response Marketing meets Network Marketing as leading infomercial company ITV Direct introduces ITV Ventures. ITV Direct will invest $50 million in TV infomercial advertising for their members to create the next work at home business giant in the multi-million dollar MLM industry.Denver, CO (PRWEB) January 23, 2007 -- Driven by ITV infomercials, consistently rated in the top ten by media...
ITV Ventures topped the MLMRankings.com September update for increase in internet interest metrix.Visit MLMRankings.com for more details....
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