Advertisers Cut ITV Spend Following Drop In Ratings
ITV’s share of the advertising market looks set to fall after advertisers decided to reduce the amount of money they intend to spend on the Network this year.
A report in today’s Financial Times suggests that a year of falling ratings will cause ITV’s share of television advertising to drop from around 53% last year to around 51% this year. The reduction follows the annual round of negotiations between ITV and advertisers, thought to be worth in the region of 70% of the Network’s advertising income.
The negotiations come after a particularly tough year for ITV, which has suffered at the hands of an increasingly populist BBC, toughening competition from commercial rivals and the ongoing advertising downturn.
The latest figures from BARB show that BBC1 extended its annual ratings lead over ITV1 last year, with a 26.2% share of viewing, compared to 24.1% across all hours for ITV1 (see BBC1 Extends Annual Ratings Lead Over ITV1). Further bad news came with confirmation that for the first time, the number of people watching cable, satellite and digital terrestrial TV channels outnumbered those watching ITV1 during the Christmas week (see Multichannel Broadcasters Overtake ITV1 At Christmas).
However, ITV1 has pledged to invest £825 million in new programming this year in a bid to increase its audience share and secure lucrative advertising deals (see ITV To Put £825 Million Into New Shows Next Year). The renewed investment, which represents a 7% increase on last year’s programming budget, will become the responsibility of Nigel Pickard when he takes over from David Liddiment as director of programmes next month (see ITV Appoints New Director Of Programmes).
ITV: 0207 843 8000 www.itv.com
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