Television Round-Up – August
The combined ITV/C4 revenue for August, based on agency estimates, came in at £127m. This is a year on year increase of 9.6%. The ITV figure was £100.56m, up 5.7% year on year, with C4’s revenue £26.44m, up by an impressive 27.4%. This is a 79:21 ratio. The best contractor performance came from Carlton, with 17% share of revenue, up 1.3% points on August 1993, although 1994 had one extra trading day. LWT was up 0.45% points to 9.95%, with London up 1.75% overall. The worst performance came from YTTV, as has been the case every month this year, down 2.16% points on last year with 11.13% share. Meridian, Granada/Border and STV also all fared worse than in 1993.
| TELEVISION CONTRACTOR SHARES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 1994 | % PT CH | |
| Carlton | 15.7 | 17 | 1.3 |
| LWT | 9.5 | 9.95 | 0.45 |
| London | 25.2 | 26.95 | 1.75 |
| Central | 15.62 | 15.71 | 0.09 |
| Granada/Border | 11.19 | 10.74 | -0.45 |
| YTTV | 13.29 | 11.13 | -2.16 |
| STV | 5.05 | 4.95 | -0.1 |
| Grampian | 1.12 | 1.17 | 0.05 |
| HTV | 5.88 | 5.91 | 0.03 |
| Meridian | 11.14 | 10.95 | -0.19 |
| Anglia | 7.38 | 7.48 | 0.1 |
| Westcountry | 2.41 | 2.45 | 0.04 |
| Ulster | 1.71 | 1.96 | 0.25 |
MESSAGES
Combined commercial messages for C4 and ITV increased across the board in August, with the exception of men, whose messages were down 2.8% year on year. The highest increase was from Housewives with Children, whose messages were up 4.1% year on year. Women’s messages were up by 4.0%. The next highest increase was from Housewives, up 2.3%.
| COMMERCIAL MESSAGES – ITV/C4 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hwvs | Adults | Men | Women | Hwvs/Child | ABC1 Adults | |
| Audience | 20561 | 33809 | 13218 | 20592 | 5511 | 12095 |
| % CH YoY | 2.3 | 1.2 | -2.8 | 4 | 4.1 | 1.9 |
COSTS PER THOUSAND
Although messages rose in August, the revenue increase was enough to make the costs per thousand rise across the board as well. The highest increase was among men, up 12.7%, followed by ABC1 Adults up 7.5% and Housewives up 7.2%. The lowest increase was from Housewives with Children, up 5.3%.
| COST PER THOUSANDS – COMBINED ITV/C4 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hwvs | Adults | Men | Women | Hwvs/Child | ABC1 | |
| Audience | 749 | 455 | 1164 | 747 | 2793 | 1272 |
| % CH YoY | 7.2 | 8.3 | 12.7 | 5.4 | 5.3 | 7.5 |
INDUSTRY NEWS
The ITC approved some changes to the licence requirements for Central, LWT, STV and Grampian. When the new licences came into force most of the licensees proposed that 65% of their output would be original productions or commissions, however, these four proposed a higher percentage. The ITC has now revised all licences to 65%.
The marketing teams at Laser, TSMS and Carlton began urging the Network Centre to relinquish marketing responsibilities to them, following the departure of Dick Emery.
The coverage of several major sporting events was decided during August. ITV signed a new contract for the domestic coverage of British Athletics for 1995 and 1996, with an option to extend for a further 2 years. The deal includes the top 4 outdoor and the top 3 indoor events.
The BBC and BSkyB are to share the coverage of cricket in England over the next 4 years. The BBC will screen test matches, a recommendation set by the National Heritage Select Committee. While BSkyB has the rights to 1-day internationals and the Benson and Hedges Cup.