It would not be appropriate to predict a definite return to advertising growth, given the protracted period of limited visibility, Ulster Television (UTV) chairman John B McGuckian said this morning, announcing the company’s first half financial results (see UTV Ad Revenue Outperforms ITV Network)
Despite the lack of a prolonged period of growth, McGuckian said that it would be equally inappropriate to ignore some positive signals which are emerging in its television business. In the first half, UTV managed a positive growth of 0.3% in TV airtime revenue, whilst the ITV Network as a whole declined by 5.6%. In the four months to the end of August, the group enjoyed ‘significant improvements’ in ad revenue.
In the quarter to 30 September 2002, which is virtually all post-World Cup, McGuckian is expecting advertising revenue to increase by 15% year on year.
“Whether or not this represents the first green shoots of recovery remains to be seen. There are no firm indications yet as to the likely performance of the last quarter of the year and, while encouraged by recent results, we will remain cautious until a period of sustained growth has been demonstrated,” he said.
