ITV shakes off growing weight of economic uncertainty as online growth nudges 43%
Online revenue growth at ITV has hit 43% in the third quarter as a strong screen and online viewing performance feeds through to a 5% uplift in total viewing – broken down into a 4% increase in total minutes spent on ITV channels and a healthy 37% increase in time spent online with the ITV Hub.
ITV online growth nudges 43% despite growing weight of economic uncertainty
This helped lift total advertising revenues to £1,285m - a 2% increase on the same period a year before, although total advertising is expected to remain broadly flat despite double digit online growth.
Chief executive Carolyn McCall said: “Online advertising continues to deliver strong double-digit revenue growth. We are seeing some softening in ITV Family NAR (net advertising revenues) in Q4 due to the increasingly uncertain economic environment and as a result we expect total advertising to be down around 3% in Q4 and broadly flat over the full year.”
Over the remainder of the year ITV will seek to win over more viewer eyeballs with reliable entertainment packages such as I’m a Celebrity and Dancing on Ice as well as dramas such as Cheat, Cleaning Up and The Widow.
In recent months ITV has begun looking beyond TV by re-imagining itself as a fully integrated producer and broadcaster, diminishing its reliance on UK advertising.
McCall succeeded Adam Crozier as CEO earlier this year, and has already outlined her 'More than a TV strategy' which includes plans for a new SVOD service in an attempt to reduce ITV's dependence on advertising.
She outlined earlier this year that the business derives income from three different pools: advertisers; broadcasters and platform owners for whom it produces content; and increasingly customers in the form of competitions, voting, live events and a trial of pay-per-view boxing.
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