Trust In ITV Ads Low

Only one in eight viewers believe television commercials are truthful and accurate, according to new research by ITV.

The ITV research (featured in its corporate responsibility report) suggests that advertisers, who spend £3.4 billion every year in the UK on promoting products on television, need to go back to basics and work on viewer trust.

Of 4,000 viewers questioned, around half neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement “the commercials shown on ITV are truthful and accurate”. One-third said they disagreed and around one in eight said they agreed with it.

Viewers were also questioned about the scheduling of ITV’s children’s programmes, social issues in ITV soaps and dramas, and the broadcaster’s role in tackling local, community and ethnic issues.

“The main issues raised are scheduling of programmes to help parents control children’s viewing and the accuracy of commercials we broadcast for advertisers,” said the report.

“Overall, the survey confirmed ITV is well regarded as a company and valued as a source of international, national and local news and current affairs programmes.”

The future of small screen advertising has been under scrutiny like never before with the growth of Sky+ and other personal video products. ITV’s share of the total UK television advertising market fell from £1.51 billion in 2004 to £1.46 billion in 2005, according to its interim results published earlier this year.

ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com