ITV looks set to suffer a drop in advertising profits of 14% in the first quarter of 2006, with media buyers claiming the broadcaster is losing viewers across its portfolio of channels.
According to a report in this morning’s
Times, buyers estimate that ITV1 has booked roughly £352 million of business in Q1 2006, down £55 million on the same period in 2005.
Revenues are also thought to be down in ITV’s digital offerings, with buyers expecting a 10% year on year decline, dropping to £390 million compared to last year’s total of £432 million.
The Times claims media buyers estimate that ITV’s commercial share has decreased by around 5 percentage points to 40%.
The advertising and media industry has been expecting the beginning of 2006 to be hard for ITV. In October, Starcom predicted the broadcaster to suffer a £190 million deficit in its advertising income, with the drop seeing ITV’s share of the television advertising market drop by 5.5 percentage points in 2006 (see ITV To Suffer £190 Million Advertising Income Loss).
This opinion is confirmed by ZenithOptimedia forecasting ITV’s advertising revenues to be down by 4.8% this year, pushing the broadcaster’s total down to £1.59 billion. The downturn is expected to continue into next year, with a further decline to £1.53 billion expected (see ITV Revenues Forecast To Drop By 5% In 2005).
ITV’s outlook is not all doom and gloom, however, with 2006’s football World Cup offering the potential for stimulated growth.
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