Production & Distribution Boost ITV Results

Double-digit gains at ITV Studios helped to drive a 6-percent boost in revenues to £2.26 billion ($2.97 billion) at ITV plc for the first nine months of the year.

ITV Studios delivered revenues of £1.1 billion ($1.4 billion), a 10-percent increase on the year-ago period. Total advertising revenues were up just 2 percent to £1.3 billion ($1.7 billion), with online revenues up 43 percent.

“ITV’s performance in the first nine months of the year was very much as we expected,” said Chief Executive Carolyn McCall. “Our strong on-screen and online viewing performance has continued with ITV total viewing, which measures our viewing across the ITV Family and the ITV Hub, up 5 percent, driven by a 4-percent increase in total minutes viewed across the ITV Family and a 37-percent increase in the time spent viewing online on the ITV Hub. This supports our confidence in the robustness of the ITV integrated producer broadcaster model and also reflects the strength and breadth of our content.”

For the full year, McCall said that ITV Studios is projected to record a 3-percent increase in revenues, while ad revenues are expected to be flat. In Q4, “we expect total advertising to be down around 3 percent,” she said.

“We are very focused on executing our strategy to create a stronger, structurally sound business, building on our strong operating performance in the areas of the business which are under our control. We are making good progress with implementing the strategy—the investment and cost-saving programmes which we set out in July are on track, and as previously mentioned, we will update the market in February on our SVOD plans.”