Television Round-Up – July
Revenue
The combined ITV/C4 revenue, based on agency estimates, came in at £148.17m; up 4.2% year on year. ITV’s revenue was £114.98m, an increase of 3.2% on last year; C4’s £33.19m was an increase of 7.5% on last year. This is a ratio of 78:22.
Among the contractors, LWT recorded the biggest decrease compared to last July, down 1.52% points to 10.84%. Carlton recorded an increase of 0.77% points to 16.04%, although Carlton had an extra trading day and LWT one less this year. London as a whole had its lowest share so far this year at 26.87%.
Granada/Border recorded its highest share since March, 11.25%; this is an increase of 0.71% points. YTTV also recorded an increase, up 0.52% points to 10.81%, its highest share since last August.
| Contractors | Jul’94 | Jul’95 | % Point Chg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carlton | 15.27 | 16.04 | 0.77 |
| LWT | 12.36 | 10.84 | -1.52 |
| London | 27.63 | 26.87 | -0.76 |
| Central | 16.39 | 16.36 | -0.03 |
| Granada/Border | 10.54 | 11.25 | 0.71 |
| YTTV | 10.29 | 10.81 | 0.52 |
| STV | 4.88 | 4.51 | -0.37 |
| Grampian | 1.18 | 1.2 | 0.02 |
| HTV | 5.89 | 6.05 | 0.16 |
| Meridian | 11.15 | 11.06 | -0.09 |
| Anglia | 7.73 | 7.56 | -0.17 |
| Westcountry | 2.37 | 2.38 | 0.01 |
| Ulster | 1.94 | 1.94 | 0 |
Messages
Combined ITV/C4 network messages were down across all audiences in July, with the biggest decrease in the Houswives with Children audience, down 6.4% year on year. Men and ABC1 Adults were both down by 3.9%; the least decrease was from Housewives, down by 2.8%. ITV only messages were down year on year for all audiences; conversely C4 messages for the month were up across all audiences.
| Messages (ITV/C4) | H/wvs | Adts | Men | Wmn | H/wvs+Kids | ABC1 Adlts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audience | 19261 | 31792 | 12587 | 19204 | 5159 | 11438 |
| % Ch YoY | -2.8 | -3.6 | -3.9 | -3.4 | -6.4 | -3.9 |
Costs Per Thousand
With combined ITV/C4 revenue up by 4.2% year on year, and messages down across the board, costs per thousand for July are up across all audiences. The highest increase was for Housewives with Children, up 11.3%.
| Costs Per Thousand (ITV/C4) | H/wvs | Adts | Men | Wmn | H/wvs+Kids | ABC1 Adts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audience | 932 | 565 | 1426 | 935 | 3481 | 1570 |
| % Ch YoY | 7.1 | 8 | 8.4 | 7.8 | 11.3 | 8.4 |
TV Viewing Average weekly viewing per head in July was down an hour on June, to 21 hours 41 mins. ITV did not have a good month in terms of viewing share recording the lowest share by far this year at 35.7%; its June share was 38%. BBC1 improved its June share to 31.4%, but BBC2 was the biggest success story in July, up to a 13.1% share, its highest share since 1992. Cable and Satellite channels, “Others”, maintained its 8.5% share of the previous month.
The audience breakdown of viewing shows a different picture, with ABC1 Adults viewing of BBC1 and BBC2 up by 2% share each, at the expense of ITV, down to 31.2% share; however for women and housewives with children the picture is not so different from June, with ITV’s share dropping around 1% point only.
| SHARE OF TOTAL: INDS | Jul-95 | Jun-95 | % PTS CH |
|---|---|---|---|
| BBC1 | 31.4 | 30.4 | 1 |
| BBC2 | 13.1 | 11.6 | 1.5 |
| TOTAL BBC | 44.5 | 42 | 2.5 |
| ITV | 35.7 | 38.1 | -2.4 |
| C4 | 11.3 | 11.4 | -0.1 |
| TOTAL ITV | 47 | 49.5 | -2.5 |
| OTHERS | 8.5 | 8.5 | 0 |
Industry News
The BBC issued its annual report in July, in which it claimed that in 1994/5 there were 300 fewer hours given to repeats than compared to the previous year and that 4 out of 5 peak time programmes on BBC1 and BBC2 were new programmes made by the BBC. The BSC also issued its annual report in July; this said that complaints had risen dramatically in the past year; 46% of all complaints concerned matters of taste and decency. Continue … £ Programming News Several sponsorship deals were announced in July; Midland Mortgages resigned for Moving Story and Arrid Extra Dry resigned for Body Heat. Lynx returned as a sponsor to the network’s Monday night adventure movie series.
The top programmes for the year Jan to June, data which was released in July showed that 19 out of the top 25 were on ITV; and 12 of those were dramas which attracted audiences of over 11.5 million. The top 3 programmes were: Coronation Street, Casualty then A Touch of Frost. ITV also announced that it is to spend £10m on revamping its night-time schedule for 1996.
Cable/Satellite Barb released its monthly satellite/dish estimates, showing there were 3.1m satellite dish owners in July, and 1.2m cable subscribers. This represents a year on year increase for cable of 48.5%, compared to dish figures up 13.9%. GfK Marketing Services also released satellite ownership estimates in July; their figure was 3.027m.