ITV: ‘Better balanced in uncertain times’
March 2, 2023
ITV has reported total external revenue was up 8 per cent at £3.72 billion (€4.17bn) in 2022, and total group revenue up 7 per cent at £4.34 billion.
Total ITV Studios revenue were up 19 per cent at £2.09 billion with growth across the business. Media & Entertainment (M&E) revenue was down 1 per cent at £2.24 billion driven by 1 per cent decline in total advertising revenue (TAR). Within this digital advertising, revenue was up 17 per cent to £343 billion.
Total digital revenues were up 18 per cent to £411 million, largely driven by ITVX; total streaming hours were up 9 per cent and within that, total monetisable streaming hours up 18 per cent; monthly active users were up 6 per cent; and UK subscribers up 17 per cent to 1.4 million
Looking ahead, ITV said it expects ITV Studios to deliver at least 5 per cent average revenue growth per annum to 2026, and grow ahead of the market. ITV added that it remains confident in delivering at least £750 million of digital revenues by 2026.
Carolyn McCall, ITV Chief Executive, commented: “2022 was a year of significant strategic progress and ITV delivered a robust set of financial results. The successful execution and delivery of ITVX in Q4 was a major digital milestone. The platform has received a very positive reception from viewers and advertisers alike, with its newly expanded range of original content and a superior user experience engaging more viewers, and lighter viewers, and encouraging them to spend more time with ITV. The user experience and personalisation elements will continue to improve throughout 2023. Our total external revenue growth of 8 per cent was driven by double-digit increases from our growth drivers, ITV Studios and our digital businesses in M&E. Our mass reach linear advertising business has also performed well and ITV total advertising revenue (TAR) was down only 1 per cent, delivering the second highest TAR in ITV’s history.”
“As a result of ITV’s deliberate strategic actions and strong execution, ITV has a scaled and expanding global production business, a rapidly growing targeted digital advertising business, a resilient linear TV advertising business and a unique vertically integrated producer broadcaster and streamer model. This means that ITV is now a demonstrably more balanced business which is ideally placed to take advantage of the growing demand for quality content from viewers, broadcasters and streamers and take a larger share of the digital advertising market. We enter 2023 with strong momentum and are on track to deliver all our 2026 KPI targets despite a continuing uncertain macro environment. ITV’s balance sheet is robust enabling us to continue to invest to support our strategy and deliver returns to shareholders,” she concluded.