ITV’s Share Of Viewing Dips Again In Latest IPA Report
The growth of non-terrestrial television channels continues to put pressure on the major terrestrial stations, with ITV in particular showing continued audience share declines.
ITV is fighting hard to stem the decline in its share of viewing. Carlton and Granada recently announced a 7% increase in the channel’s network programme budget after the Government cleared the way for their £4.2 billion merger.
| UK TV Stations Share Of Viewing Trends | ||||||||
| ITV1 | C4 | Five | Non-terrestrial | Total (ITV1, C4, Five + Non-terrestrial) | BBC1 | BBC2 | TOTAL | |
| Q1 2001 | 28.9 | 9.8 | 5.5 | 17.8 | 62.0 | 26.5 | 11.5 | 100.0 |
| Q2 2001 | 27.5 | 10.4 | 5.7 | 19.4 | 63.0 | 26.2 | 10.7 | 100.0 |
| Q3 2001 | 25.2 | 10.1 | 5.9 | 20.9 | 62.2 | 26.8 | 11.0 | 100.0 |
| Q4 2001 | 25.2 | 9.6 | 5.8 | 20.4 | 61.1 | 27.8 | 11.2 | 100.0 |
| Q1 2002 | 25.1 | 10.1 | 6.4 | 21.4 | 63.0 | 25.3 | 11.7 | 100.0 |
| Q2 2002 | 24.2 | 10.2 | 6.4 | 21.3 | 62.1 | 27.2 | 10.7 | 100.0 |
| Q3 2002 | 23.6 | 10.4 | 6.3 | 22.6 | 62.9 | 25.7 | 11.3 | 100.0 |
| Q4 2002 | 23.9 | 9.5 | 6.2 | 22.2 | 61.8 | 26.6 | 11.6 | 100.0 |
| Q1 2003 | 24.0 | 9.2 | 6.4 | 22.8 | 62.3 | 26.4 | 11.2 | 100.0 |
| Q2 2003 | 23.6 | 9.8 | 6.5 | 23.9 | 63.8 | 25.5 | 10.7 | 100.0 |
| Q3 2003 | 23.2 | 10.1 | 6.5 | 24.1 | 63.9 | 25.1 | 11.0 | 100.0 |
| *old panel in italics | ||||||||
| Source: IPA, October 2003 | ||||||||
The figures show that non-terrestrial channels are still gaining ground in the battle for viewers, with their combined audience share rising to 24.1% in the third quarter of 2003, up from 22.6% in the same period last year. Non-terrestrial channels also took the largest peaktime share of the lucrative 16 to 34 year-old audience, reaching 25.5% of this key demographic, ahead of ITV with 22.4% and BBC1 with 23.6%.
A recent study from Continental Research shows that the success of Freeview and the growth of the Sky Digital have significantly boosted the market for multichannel services in this country, which now reach more than 10 million homes (see Digital TV Now Reaches More Than 10 Million UK Homes). The growth of Freeview is expected to continue apace and reports suggest that the service could have been adopted by two million homes in the UK by the time it celebrates its first birthday at the end of this month.
To see an analysis of the Q2 Trends In Television survey click Multichannel Passes ITV1 In Q2 Share Of Viewing.