The UK’s biggest commercial broadcaster said total advertising revenue, including TV, digital and sponsorships, fell 2% in the nine months to the end of September. In its latest financial report, the broadcaster said it expected revenue to be “broadly flat” for the period. ITV’s figures show a steady deterioration in the UK advertising market since mid-year, with August down 21% and September down 14%. Overall, ad revenue for the third quarter will be down 14% year-over-year. Forecasts for November and December – which with the World Cup and the annual Christmas marketing blitz traditionally mean an advertising bonus – are a modest boost of just 3% and 5% to 10% year-over-year. “Relative to the overall UK ad market, ITV has done well,” said a senior executive at a media agency. “The problem is the rapid decline in the second half, which was not expected. Overall, the fourth quarter will be solid, and that’s with a World Cup, which no one expected when they predicted advertising spending in the summer. When the World Cup is in June, it leads to double-digit growth and ITV’s December predictions will only last if England progress to the quarter-finals and beyond. ITV would have hoped for much better.” Media agency sources say the World Cup is saving ITV from a bad year overall, just making up for a wider malaise in the UK TV advertising market. The timing of the World Cup also means that many advertisers who might launch special advertising campaigns when the summer takes place are not committing extra budget this time around because it falls within their traditional Christmas spending plans. Some advertisers also have concerns about advertising campaigns linking their brands to the human rights record of the World Cup in Qatar. Jittery investors drove ITV’s share price down more than 6% in morning trading on Wednesday, making it one of the biggest fallers on the FTSE 250. Strong double-digit growth at ITV Studios, which makes shows such as I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here, Hell’s Kitchen and A Spy Among Friends, failed to dampen market sentiment. Subscribe to Business Today Get ready for the business day – we’ll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. A 16% rise in revenue in the first nine months at ITV Studios, which makes shows for ITV and other broadcasters, offset a fall in advertising revenue, pushing total ITV revenue up 6% to £2.5bn . ITV is to launch its new ad-supported streaming service, ITVX, which will replace ITV Hub and include a paid tier with access to content from its BritBox joint venture with the BBC, on December 8. “While we remain in the face of macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty, there is strong business momentum,” said Carolyn McCall, chief executive of ITV.
