ITV reports “outstanding” 9 months
November 10, 2021
ITV, the UK commercial broadcaster, has reported that total external revenue for the 9 months to September 30th 2021 was up 28 per cent at £2.38 billion (€2.6bn) and up 8 per cent compared to 2019.
Total ITV Studios revenue was up 32 per cent at £1.19 billion (2020: £905 million) and up 6 per cent compared to 2019.
M&E revenue was up 26 per cent at £1.59 billion (2020: £1.26 billion), with total advertising revenue (TAR) up 30 per cent within which total AVoD revenue was up 54 per cent. Total M&E revenue was up 9 per cent compared to 2019 and TAR was up 8 per cent compared to 2019.
Media and Entertainment highlights include:
- Total advertising revenue (TAR) for 2021 is expected to be the highest in ITV’s history
○ TAR was up 30 per cent for the 9 months to the end of September 2021, with July up 68 per cent, August up 24 per cent and September up 16 per cent compared to the same period in 2020
○ AVoD revenue remains very strong, up 54 per cent to the end of September compared to the same period in 2020
○ Q4 TAR is expected to be up between 11 per cent and 13 per cent against strong comparatives in 2020, with October up 17 per cent and we forecast November to be up around 12 per cent and December to be up between 5 per cent and 10 per cent
- Share of viewing and online viewing growing
○ ITV main channel’s share of viewing (SOV) for the 9 months to the end of September was up from 16.6 per cent to 17 per cent and ITV Family SOV was up from 22.2 per cent to 22.5 per cent with the Euros, Love Island and dramas such as Manhunt: The Night Stalker and Vera, delivering strong ratings as we continue to provide both mass audiences and key demographics
○ Online viewing was up 39 per cent, with dwell time up 9 per cent and simulcast viewing up 51 per cent
○ ITV total viewing was down 5 per cent, against a tough comparative in 2020 which was driven by the rise in viewing due to the lockdown
Carolyn McCall, ITV Chief Executive, said: “By any standards ITV has had an outstanding nine months. 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. This drove total external revenue up 28 per cent compared to 2020 and 8 per cent higher than 2019. We are becoming an increasingly scaled digital business. Our online viewing was up 39 per cent in the nine months which, together with the roll out of Planet V, helped our AVoD revenue to climb 54 per cent. Our monthly active users (MAUs) now stand at 9.6 million, a 22 per cent 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.”
“ITV Studios continues to attract and support brilliant creative talent delivering significant growth in the UK and internationally. It has produced the biggest dramas of the year so far on both the BBC and ITV and revenue from streamers globally is growing very strongly. Like the rest of our business, ITV Studios is embracing new digital processes with more of our productions being managed remotely, utilising tools such as cloud-based editing. 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,” she concluded.