ITV Projects Record 2021 Ad Revenues

Ad revenues at ITV are projected to hit a record level in 2021, following a 30 percent gain in the first nine months of the year.

For 2021, the company is expecting ad revenues to be up 24 percent.

“By any standards, ITV has had an outstanding nine months,” said Chief Executive Carolyn McCall. “Both our Studios and Media & Entertainment (M&E) businesses have performed very strongly. Revenue from each business over the nine months is up both on last year and on 2019.”

Total revenues rose 28 percent to £2.4 billion in the first nine months. ITV Studios revenues were up 32 percent to £1.2 billion, while media and entertainment rose 26 percent to £1.6 billion.

“We are becoming an increasingly scaled digital business,” McCall noted. “Our online viewing was up 39 percent in the nine months which, together with the roll out of Planet V, helped our video on demand advertising (AVOD) revenue to climb 54 percent. Our monthly active users (MAUs) now stand at 9.6 million, a 22 percent increase year on year, reflecting the focus on our AVOD strategy. With the combination of Broadcast and ITV Hub’s mass simultaneous reach, our brand-safe addressable advertising product and the strong economy, 2021 looks set to have the highest advertising revenue in ITV’s history, despite the lockdown in Q1.

“Today’s results further illustrate that ITV has successfully completed the first phase of its More Than TV strategy and is accelerating the second phase of digital transformation as we evolve our products, user experiences and ways of working.”