ITV warns of advertising slump

Published Tuesday 22 May 2007 at 11:25 by Matthew Hemley

ITV has warned it expects advertising revenues at its flagship channel to be down almost 10% for the first six months of 2007.

In a statement, the broadcaster said ITV1 would be down 9.6% for the six months to June compared with the same period last year.

Overall, ITV said total advertising revenues would be down by 5.7%.

The broadcaster said ITV1’s share of commercial impacts - the proportion of TV advertising seen by its viewers - was down 6.2% to 32.6% in the 17 weeks to April 29.

Over the same period, share of commercial impacts across ITV’s entire portfolio of channels went down 3.8% to 41.7%.

Executive chairman Michael Grade said he was “encouraged by the progress made so far this year” but added there was “still a great deal more to do”.

The broadcaster also recognised the impact recent problems surrounding premium rate phone-in competitions had made on business, stating that revenues from such services were down 20% in March this year.

It said it was reviewing all of its activity to ensure quizzes and game shows were delivered in a “fair and transparent manner”, but said “concerns remain about when consumer confidence in this area will be restored”.