Television Round-Up – September
TV Revenue
Combined ITV/C4 revenue for September, according to agency estimates, came in at £180.57m, an increase of 5.2% on last year, the highest figure taken this year apart from May, when total revenue came in at £183.115m. The ITV/C4 split was 78:22, with revenues being £141.44m and £39.13m respectively.
Among the contractors, Carlton had its lowest share so far this year, 15.16%. LWT conversely, had the best performance of any contractor in terms of year on year increase, up 0.88% points to 11.2%. Overall this gave London a 26.36% share, also its lowest this year. Carlton did however have one less trading day this year.
Granada/Border recorded the next biggest increase after LWT, up 0.59% points to 11.86% share, its highest so far this year. Amongst the other contractors there was not much movement compared to last year.
| Sep-94 | Sep-95 | % Point Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carlton | 15.96 | 15.16 | -0.80 |
| LWT | 10.32 | 11.20 | 0.88 |
| London | 26.28 | 26.36 | 0.08 |
| Central | 16.09 | 15.81 | -0.28 |
| Granada/Border | 11.27 | 11.86 | 0.59 |
| YTTV | 10.48 | 10.68 | 0.20 |
| STV | 4.82 | 4.88 | 0.06 |
| Grampian | 1.16 | 1.21 | 0.05 |
| HTV | 5.82 | 6.11 | 0.29 |
| Meridian | 11.78 | 11.38 | -0.40 |
| Anglia | 8.04 | 7.36 | -0.68 |
| Westcountry | 2.35 | 2.35 | 0.00 |
| Ulster | 1.92 | 2.00 | 0.08 |
Messages – ITV/C4 Combined
| Housewives | Adults | Men | Women | Hwives & Children | ABC1 Adults | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audience | 21271 | 34861 | 13621 | 21240 | 6216 | 12733 |
| %Change Year on Year | -3.90 | -4.20 | -4.10 | -4.30 | -2.90 | -2.70 |
Messages were down across the board for ITV compared to last September; with C4 messages down for most audiences as well, the combined messages were also down across the board. The biggest decrease was from the women audience, down 4.3% year on year.Amongst the C4 messages, the biggest fall was from men, down 3.1%.
Costs Per Thousand – ITV/C4 Combined
| Housewives | Adults | Men | Women | Hwives & Children | ABC1 Adults | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audience | 1029 | 628 | 1606 | 1030 | 3520 | 1718 |
| %Change Year on Year | 9.50 | 9.80 | 9.60 | 9.90 | 8.30 | 8.10 |
With revenue for ITV/C4 up 5.2% year on year, and messages again falling, it is a familiar story, with costs per thousand up across all audiences. As would be expected from the decline in messages, Women’s cpts rose the most in September.
TV Viewing
Television viewing for September as a whole was up by an average of two hours per week per head, to 23 hours and 55 minutes. This is however a decrease on last year’s September viewing, which was 24 hours and 24 minutes in total. In terms of viewing share, ITV had a much improved month compared to August, with viewing share up from 35.2% to 38%. However, this was mainly at the expense of Channel 4, whose share dropped from 12.3% in August to 10.5% in September. Cable and Satellite did not have such a good month either, with viewing share actually decreasing compared to last month, to 9.3% share; this was however, its highest month in terms of hours, at 2 hours 14 minutes (individuals.)
September Viewing Share (Individuals)
| September | August | % Points Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| BBC1 | 31.70 | 31.60 | 0.10 |
| BBC2 | 10.40 | 11.50 | -1.10 |
| ITV | 38.00 | 35.20 | 2.80 |
| C4 | 10.50 | 12.30 | -1.80 |
| Others | 9.30 | 9.40 | 1.10 |
ITV’s stronger performance in September coincides with the launch of the autumn schedules; the first night of the schedules saw ITV with a 46.9% prime time share of viewing compared to BBC1’s share of 33.9%. However, according to a CIA Sensor, BBC1 drama programmes are the favourite among viewers.
Other industry news in September included the latest ITC cable statistics; these showed there were over 1m cable subscribers for the first time, up by 48% year on year. Among the franchise areas, Birmingham has the highest number of homes connected, but Swindon has the highest penetration of connection.
September saw Bells advertising on television for the first time, signifying the end of the voluntary ban on spirits advertising on TV. Pepsi renewed its sponsorship of the network chart show and the Sun announced a deal sponsoring Bruce’s Price is Right. Carlton launched a scratchcard game in its Carlton and Central regions.