ISBA Urges ITV To Protect Programming

The Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA) has called on ITV to protect its programming budget as ITV’s shareholders face increasing pressure caused by the advertising downturn and the rising costs of ITVDigital.

ISBA’s director of media and advertising, Bob Wootton, urged ITV not to cut to its £747m programming budget despite the pressures that ITV is facing in the different areas of its business.

He said: “ITV must protect its core brand ITV1. If the downturn in revenues continues it will have to decide how to deploy revenues. But it must protect the programming budget rather than throwing money at ITVDigital.”

The warning comes after comments made by former ITV marketing and consumer director John Hardie. Speaking at the launch of ITV’s autumn schedule Hardie said that in the long-term programming could be affected by falling revenues.

A spokesperson for ITV acknowledged that ITV’s revenue could have fallen by as much as £297m since July, but said: “ITV’s programming budget will be announced on 8 October and will reflect the importance and value of ITV’s core brand.”

ITV’s peak-time ratings dropped below 30% last week for the first time in the channel’s history. Last year ITV’s overall average share was 35.3% but during last week it dropped to an average of 29.5%.

ISBA: 020 7499 7502 www.isba.org.uk ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.co.uk

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