ITV Posts Record Ad Revenues, Unveils New Streamer

ITV reported 2021 revenues of £3.45 billion ($4.6 billion), a 24 percent gain on 2020, and has unveiled a new streaming service, ITVX, that will feature AVOD and SVOD tiers.

ITV Studios’ revenues grew by 28 percent to £1.76 billion ($2.4 billion). Media and entertainment revenues were up 21 percent to £2.28 billion ($3 billion), with ad revenues up 24 percent, including a 41 percent bump in AVOD revenues. Statutory profit before tax was up 48 percent to £480 million ($640 million).

“ITV delivered an outstanding financial performance in 2021 with total external revenue growth of 24 percent and adjusted EPS growth of 40 percent, fueled by strong performance in both our divisions,” said Carolyn McCall, chief executive. “ITV Studios has enjoyed both ratings and critical success and currently has around 500 programs in production in the U.K/ and internationally. Media and entertainment kept viewers and advertisers alike happy with a compelling slate of entertainment shows and dramas and must watch sport across ITV’s channels and streaming. Total advertising revenue saw a record year and within this video on demand advertising was up 41 percent.”

McCall added, “The successful execution of the first phase of our More Than TV strategy puts us in a strong financial and creative position, from which to launch the next phase—ITV’s Digital Acceleration, to supercharge our streaming business.”

ITV has set a target of doubling its digital revenues to £750 million ($1 billion) by 2026.

On that front, ITV has unveiled ITVX, which will launch later this year, offering users a free AVOD tier as well as an ad-free SVOD option. ITV Hub, which has about 4,000 content hours, will remain ITV’s streaming home till the launch of ITVX, which will arrive with around 15,000 hours of content.

“ITVX will be a free service supported by adverts, with a compelling subscription proposition,” McCall said. “This is fantastic for viewers—it will provide a simplified and seamless experience with thousands of hours of free content made up of both library and original exclusive content.  The subscription tier will provide a premium offering and includes all of the content ad-free as well as BritBox and future SVOD content partners.

“We are supercharging our streaming business, fundamentally shifting our focus to think digital first, as well as optimizing our broadcast channels, by continuing to attract unrivaled mass audiences,” McCall added. “In doing so we are responding to changing viewing habits, but also the evolving needs from our advertisers.  This will enable ITV to continue to be both commercial viewers and advertisers’ first choice.”

Kevin Lygo, ITV’s managing director of media and entertainment, added, “Viewing habits are changing rapidly and ITV has exciting plans which we are announcing today to really scale up our streaming ambitions, offering viewers a service with more fresh, free content dropping every week than anywhere else. Our broadcast channels are very important to what we do, and we are still focused on delivering what ITV does better than anyone in commercial TV—creating programs that bring audiences together in-the-moment, in their millions, for that shared viewing, scheduled TV experience. However we know we have to deliver our programs to as many people as possible in all the ways they want to watch them, and going forward viewers will now see a wide array of shows premiering first on ITVX, which is the cornerstone of ITV’s digital acceleration.”

Rufus Radcliffe, ITV’s managing director of streaming, noted, “2021 was a record year for ITV Hub and BritBox, giving us strong foundations from which to supercharge our streaming strategy. We are investing significantly in new and exclusive programs which will be free to stream, and also in technology and product design to make the viewer experience and interface a premium one on ITVX.”

ITV’s total content investment will be around £1.23 billion ($1.6 billion) this year, rising to £1.35 billion ($1.8 billion) in 2023. This includes BritBox UK content, as well as digital-first content investment of £20 million ($26.7 million) in 2022 and £160 million ($214 million) in 2023 for ITVX.