ITV has predicted that advertising revenue will not grow during the first half of 2008 as the UK economy slows. However, executive chairman Michael Grade said ITV would still beat the rate of growth in the UK ad market as a whole for the first time since 2000.

The firm said first-quarter revenues rose, helped by growth in its online businesses and production commissions from abroad. ITV said that revenues for the first quarter of 2008 had increased by 3 per cent to £492 million (E615m) compared with £479 million in 2007 and net advertising revenue was up 2 per cent in the first quarter. However, the group said that revenue from its broadcasting operation fell by about 2 per cent to £409 million for the period

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