ITV set to cut content spending in 2023 as advertising market remains ‘challenging’

Total revenues lifted 1 per cent to £2.98bn in the period, however, as its studio and digital performance offset the drop in traditional TV ad demand.

ITV said a “challenging” economic backdrop will leave total ad revenues lower over the full year, with falls of 15 per cent in November and between 10 per cent and 15 per cent in December compared with a year earlier, when demand was boosted by the Fifa World Cup.

As a result of the ad pressures, it said, content spending will be cut by £10m to £1.29bn in 2023, with plans to push this into next year instead.

Chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall said: “ITV continues to make good strategic progress despite the challenging macro environment which is impacting the advertising market and also the demand for content from free-to-air broadcasters in the UK and internationally.

“We are on track to deliver £15m of cost savings in 2023, as part of our previously announced £50m cost saving target between 2023 and 2026.

“In addition, we will rephase £10m of content spend from 2023 into 2024.”

Its studios arm, which also produces popular series such as The Voice, Queer Eye and Line Of Duty, delivered a 9 per cent rise in revenues to £1.5bn over the first nine months of 2023.

Its digital ad revenues in the wider business jumped 25 per cent, while its content streaming hub, ITVX, helped wider digital turnover lift 23 per cent.

But it said the content market is being held back in the short term by the US writers’ and actors’ strikes, which is set to hit 2024 revenues, deferring some of this into 2025.

It is expecting full-year studios revenue growth to pull back sharply to 3 per cent in 2023, down from 19 per cent in 2022, ITV revealed in a statement to accompany the results.