Television Market Round-Up – July 2005

Both Channel 4 and Five saw respectable increases in total television revenue during July, with year on year rises of 4.5% and 3.8% respectively.

Channel 4 now commands revenues of £51.5 million, while Five’s total has risen to £21.2 million.

Both broadcasters look set to continue their revenue increases, as Channel 4 announced that it had acquired broadcast rights to a number of hit American shows at the end of July. The new deal includes disaster series, Invasion, sitcom The War at Home and part character drama, part murder mystery, Reunion (see Channel 4 Bolsters Schedule With New US Shows).

Meanwhile, Five announced its first co-commissioned show with Paramount Comedy, as the two companies lifted the lid on Suburban Shootout, intended to be a “UK version of Desperate Housewives” (see Five And Paramount Commission First Joint Comedy).

Elsewhere, GMTV saw the largest year on year decline in revenues, with a dip of 11.4% pushing the broadcaster’s total to £3.9 million.

ITV1 saw also its revenues slip year on year during July, with a downturn of 5.2% pushing the broadcaster’s total to £117.2 million.

Total satellite revenues continued to climb, however, adding 26.4% year on year to total £55.3 million.

ITV Franchises

London-based Carlton and LWT saw the largest rises in ITV’s revenue share during July, adding 1% point and 0.8% points respectively. The two regions now contribute 15.11% and 12.9% to the broadcaster’s total revenue.

Meridian saw the largest downturn in its contributions year on year, shedding 0.5% points, but continuing to deliver a respectable 12.11% of ITV’s total revenue.

Costs Per Thousand

Channel 4 saw costs per thousand rise across the board in July, with costs in the Women category seeing the largest increase, at 27.8% year on year.

The broadcaster also saw sizeable increases across its Housewives, Housewives with Children and ABC1 Adults audiences, with rises above 25% in each.

Elsewhere, ITV saw a respectable 7.9% rise in costs for its Housewives with Children category, as well as a 3% increase in costs for its ABC1 Adults audience.

Five was the only commercial terrestrial broadcaster to see a decline in costs for each audience, with the largest dip evident in its Women category, sporting a decline of 12.8% year on year.

Commercial Impacts

Five was the only terrestrial broadcaster to see increases in commercial impacts during July, with rises across all of its audience categories. The largest rise was achieved in the Women category, as Five added 19.1% year on year, although a respectable rise of 16% was also achieved in the Adults category.

Elsewhere, rival terrestrial broadcasters ITV1 and Channel 4 both saw declines in commercial impacts across the board. ITV’s largest slump was seen in the Housewives with Children category, with a 12.1% downturn, while Channel 4 saw particularly large downward movement in the Women category, losing 18.2% year on year.

Satellite impacts continued to increase, with sizeable percentage growth in all audiences. The largest of these was in the Men category, with a year on year increase of 15.5%.

BARB: www.barb.co.uk