ITV says its looking forward to advertising growth of up to 90% this summer as it looks forward to the Euro 2020 football competition and the return of Love Island.
In a trading statement, ITV said advertising trends had been positive since March, with April up 68% when compared to the same period in 2020.
ITV viewing was up 1% on the back of a strong schedule including Unforgotten, Saturday Night Takeaway and the Six Nations. However, while ITV Hub registered users were up 5% and dwell time was up 6%, online viewing was down 11% in the absence of a winter edition of Love Island.
“We have made a good start to 2021 with total revenue and total viewing both up, despite the continuing impact of the pandemic. We finished the quarter strongly with the substantial majority of our shows back in production and a recovery in the advertising market,” said ITV Chief Executive Carolyn McCall.
ITV main channel’s share of viewing was up from 17.9% to 18.2%.
