TV Market Round-Up – July 2004

Television advertising continued to go from strength to strength in July with total terrestrial revenue rising by a solid 9.8% year on year to almost £198 million, according to the latest agency estimates compiled by MediaTel Group.

The figures reveal a particularly impressive performance for Channel 4, which saw revenue rise by 9% to more than £49 million as a range of mobile phone brands, car manufacturers and beauty advertisers fought to secure airtime during the latest series of Big Brother (see Advertisers Line Up For Channel 4 Friends Finalé).

ITV also enjoyed a bumper month during July with the tail end of the Euro 2004 football tournament helping revenue to surge by an impressive 8.4% year on year to almost £124 million. The broadcaster claims to have experienced an overwhelming demand for airtime spots during the tournament, which delivered record audiences to the channel (see ITV Hails Euro 2004 A Success As Revenue Soars).

However, it was Five which put in the strongest performance with revenue climbing 10.7% higher year on year during July to just over the £20 million mark. The UK’s smallest commercial broadcaster also recently launched a dedicated commercial development team to maximise secondary revenue streams outside of traditional spot advertising (see Five Launches Commercial Team to Maximise Revenues).

Satellite broadcasters saw their combined revenue rise by a healthy 16.2% year on year to just under £44 million. Non-terrestrial channels continue to benefit from the fragmentation of media consumption and their ability to offer advertisers high-targeted audiences. Recently released figures from Ofcom show that the growth of digital satellite and Freeview have helped ITV1 to see its share of viewing decline by 16% in less than ten years and BBC One to dip by 7% during the same period (see Multi-Channel Success Hits Terrestrial Broadcasters).

ITV Franchises

Scotland experienced the most significant increase amongst the ITV franchises, with its share of revenue rising by 0.40% points year on year during July to 6.16%. LWT also performed well with a 0.27% points rise to 12.10%. At the other end of the scale, Carlton saw its share of revenue decline by 0.63% points to 14.15% and Yorkshire/North East dipped by 0.57% during the same period to 10.47%.

Costs Per Thousand

Channel 4 saw costs per thousands decline across the board during July with a 11.8% drop in the Housewives With Children category and a 5.4% year on year dip in the ABC1 Adults category. ITV saw a notable 12.48% rise in the Women category and Five saw its housewives With Children category increase by 33.1% year on year during July.

Commercial Impacts

Both ITV and Five saw commercial impacts decline across the board during June, with the former seeing an 8.2% dip in the Housewives With Children category and the later experiencing a 10.1% drop in the same category. Channel 4 saw a notable 23.6% increase in the Housewives With Children category and Satellite broadcasters experienced a 20.7% year on year rise in the Housewives category.

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