TV Market Round-Up – January 2003

January brought relatively good news to the UK terrestrial TV market, which saw revenue increase slightly year on year. Gains were experienced at all of the main commercial channels, with the exception of ITV, which saw revenue slip by 2.4% year on year. Channel Five, which recently appointed Jane Lighting as its new chief executive (see Channel Five Names Lighting As New Chief Executive), saw the most significant upward movement during January, with revenue increasing to £16.5 million. Channel 4 also got off to a good start in 2003, with revenue improving by 2.5%.

Total satellite continued to show healthy growth, with revenue improving by 31.8% year on year during January.

ITV Franchise Revenue

LWT and Anglia saw the most significant upward movement amongst the ITV franchises, with their share of revenue increasing during January. At the other end of the scale, HTV saw its share of ITV’s total revenue decrease by 0.36% points year on year. This was followed by Meridian, which saw its share slip points during the same period. Central and Carlton continued to command the greatest proportion of ITV’s revenue.

Costs Per Thousand

ITV saw costs per thousand fall across the board during January. The most notable downward movement was seen in the ABC1 Adults and Housewives With Children categories. Channel 4 saw significant decline in the Housewives With Children and the Women category, which slipped by 11.3% and 10.5% respectively. However, the broadcaster saw a year on year rise in the Men category. Channel Five saw costs per thousand rise across the board, with the exception of the Housewives With Children category. The most notable upward movement was seen in the in ABC1 Adults category.

Commercial Impacts

Commercial Impacts rose across the during January, with ITV1 seeing the most significant upward movement in the ABC1 Adults and the Housewives With Children categories. Channel 4 saw its Housewives With Children category increase by 15.6% year on year and Channel Five experienced a notable rise in the same category. Satellite impacts increased by 26.2% in the ABC1 Adults category and 23.9% in the Men category.

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