ITV’s total advertising revenue fell 2 per cent in the year to September with the national broadcaster’s media and entertainment division also seeing drop in income.
Looking ahead the group, home of I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, is expecting total advertising revenue to fall by between 1 and 1.5 per cent year-on-year in 2022, despite the expected income boost from broadcasting the FIFA World Cup.
The relative decline in revenue to September likely reflects weaker adverting compared to Summer 2021 when the UEFA European Football Championship brought in bumper audiences.
ITV is home to popular shows including I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! and Love Island
The broadcaster saw revenues of £2.5billion from January to September this year, up 6 per cent from around £2.4billion over the same period in 2021.
Non-advertising revenue at the company comprised more than half of its overall income and rose 13 per cent to £1.6billion.
ITV’s studio division saw a 16 per cent increase in its revenue to £1.4billion, with ‘quicker than market growth’, the company said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.
Carolyn McCall, ITV chief executive, said: ‘While we remain mindful of the macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty there’s strong operational momentum across both our Studios and Media & Entertainment divisions, as we continue to build a resilient, diversified business that can take advantage of the global growth in the demand for quality content and the desire of advertisers for both mass reach and data-led addressable advertising, targeting millions of UK viewers.’
Next month ITV is rolling out its new streaming service ITVX that will offer over 10,000 hours of free content including one of the UK’s largest free film libraries with over 250 titles and over 200 series available at launch.
ITVX is forecast to drive significant digital viewing and revenue growth, enabling ITV to deliver at least £750 million digital revenues by 2026.
Monetisable streaming hours on ITV Hub, ITV Hub+ and BritBox UK were up 10 per cent in the nine months to 30 September 2022.
ITV shares fell more than 6 per cent to 68.74p this morning, but have risen 35 per cent from a two-year low in September, helped by a report saying it was considering selling a stake in its Studios business.
