February was a relatively disappointing month for the UK terrestrial TV market, which saw revenue fall by 3.2% year on year to just above £183 million. As usual it was the big hitters which bore the brunt of the bad news, with ITV experiencing a 5.6% year on year decline in revenue and Channel 4 slipping by 4.1% during the same period. At the other end of the scale, Channel Five continued its strong performance, with revenue increasing by 16.2% year on year. GMTV also managed a slight improvement, with revenue inching up by 1.9% to £4.2 million.
Total satellite revenue increased by an impressive 28.7% year on year during February to over the £41 million mark.
| Total Television Revenue – February 2003 | |||
| Total Revenue | Feb 02 | Feb 03 | % Change |
| ITV1 | 121,950,000 | 115,160,000 | -5.6 |
| C4 | 47,600,000 | 45,670,000 | -4.1 |
| Five | 15,640,000 | 18,170,000 | 16.2 |
| GMTV | 4,120,000 | 4,200,000 | 1.9 |
| Total Terrestrial (inc. GMTV) | 189,310,000 | 183,200,000 | -3.2 |
| Total Satellite | 35,870,000 | 46,170,000 | 28.7 |
| Source: Agency Estimates | |||
ITV Franchise Revenue
February was a month of mixed fortunes for the ITV franchises. Anglia and Central saw the most significant improvement in their share of ITV’s total revenue, which rose by 0.67% points and 0.45% points respectively. Meanwhile, Carlton led the downward movement with its share declining by 1% point year on year to just below 16%. North West/Border also performed poorly, recording a 0.57% points dip during February.
| February ITV Franchise Revenue Share Comparison | |||
| Station | Feb 02 | Feb 03 | % Point Change |
| Scotland | 5.88 | 5.95 | 0.07 |
| Anglia TV | 6.82 | 7.49 | 0.67 |
| Carlton | 16.99 | 15.99 | -1.00 |
| LWT | 11.26 | 11.50 | 0.24 |
| Central | 15.40 | 15.85 | 0.45 |
| North West/Border | 11.99 | 11.42 | -0.57 |
| Meridian | 11.54 | 11.95 | 0.41 |
| West Country | 1.81 | 1.98 | 0.17 |
| Ulster (UTV) | 2.18 | 2.30 | 0.12 |
| HTV | 6.15 | 5.81 | -0.34 |
| Yorkshire/North East | 9.97 | 9.76 | -0.21 |
Costs Per Thousand
ITV and Channel 4 saw costs per thousand fall across the board during February. ITV experienced the most significant downward movement in the Housewives With Children category and the ABC1 Adults category, which slipped by 14.4% and 13.4% respectively. Channel 4 also saw a notable decline in the ABC1 Adults category, which was down by 11.7% year on year during February. In contrast, Channel Five saw costs per thousand increase across all categories, with the price of reaching ABC Adults increasing by 13.4%.
| ITV1 | % Ch YoY | Channel 4 | % Ch YoY | Five | % Ch YoY | |
| Adults | 6.15 | -9.1 | 6.59 | -6.2 | 3.66 | 10.4 |
| Men | 16 | -6.7 | 15 | -1.7 | 8 | 10.3 |
| Women | 10 | -10.6 | 12 | -9.6 | 6.53 | 10.4 |
| Hwvs | 10 | -11 | 10 | -8.2 | 5.62 | 8.3 |
| Hwvs/Ch | 38 | -14.4 | 51 | -5.5 | 24 | 8.6 |
| ABC1 Adults | 16 | -13.4 | 15 | -11.7 | 11 | 13.4 |
Commercial Impacts
Commercial impacts rose across all categories for all broadcasters during February, with the exception of Channel 4’s Men category, which was down by 2.4% year on year. Among the terrestrial broadcasters, the most notable increases were seen in ITV’s Housewives With Children category, which rose by 10.3% and Channel 4’s ABC1 Adults category, which improved by 8.7% during February. Channel Five saw the most significant increase in its Housewives category, which rose by 7.3% year on year.
Satellite impacts were up by 18.3% year on year in the Women category and 18.1% in the Adults category.
| Commercial Impacts | ||||||||
| ITV1 Impacts | % Ch YoY | C4 Impacts | % Ch YoY | C5 Impacts | % Ch YoY | Satellite Impacts | % Ch YoY | |
| Adults | 22,695 | 3.9 | 8,403 | 2.3 | 6,011 | 5.3 | 13,885 | 18.1 |
| Men | 8,965 | 1.2 | 3,634 | -2.4 | 2,637 | 5.3 | 6,628 | 18 |
| Women | 13,731 | 5.7 | 4,770 | 6.1 | 3,374 | 5.2 | 7,257 | 18.3 |
| Hwvs | 14,522 | 6.1 | 5,344 | 4.5 | 3,918 | 7.3 | 7,509 | 13.8 |
| Hwvs/Ch | 3,653 | 10.3 | 1,091 | 1.5 | 936 | 6.9 | 3,011 | 11.5 |
| ABC1 Adults | 8,676 | 8.9 | 3,733 | 8.7 | 1,975 | 2.4 | 5,881 | 25 |
Indsutry News
Channel Five Offered £20m Annual Licence Fee Cut BARB Appoints Zenith’s Bolus As Research Manager Granada Brings Heinz Salad Cream To Emmerdale Conservatives Press For Reform Of BBC Licence Fee ITV1 Secures Network Q For Millionaire Sponsorship Freeview Launch Hits ITV Harder Than Expected ITV Outperforms Commercial Rivals In Q4 2002 Channel 4 Secures £1.5m Sponsorship Deal With Kenco New Granada Deal Brings Wella To Girls In Love BBC3 Programming Reaches 16.3 Million In Launch Week Ethnic Viewers Turned Off By Terrestrial TV ITV Expands Interactive Ad Prospects With BSkyB Deal Public Opposed To Foreign Ownership Of UK Media ITN Appeals For Relaxation Of Ownership Laws BBC3 Launch Attracts An Average Audience Of 154,000 BBC Licence Fee Rise Set To Anger Commercial Rivals Granada Chairman Calls For Slice Of BBC Licence Fee Advertisers’ Fears Eased As TiVo Withdraws From UK Channel Five Names Lighting As New Chief Executive Granada Is Reborn In The USA With Boddingtons More Than £3.5bn Spent On TV Advertising Last Year BBC Black-Out Causes Viewing Figures To Dip TV Viewers Rarely Watch Adverts During Commercial Breaks ITV Merger Set For Competition Commission Referral Viacom Makes First Move In To Third Party Sales
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