The combination of a soft advertising market and investment in streaming contributed to a one-third decline in profits at commercial broadcaster ITV.
Profits of £490 million in 2023 dropped by 32% when compared to 2022.
The fall was blamed on a decline in linear advertising as well as the £464 million investment in ITVX. The streaming service helped deliver a 19% growth in digital revenues. ITV says it remains on track to deliver at least £750 million of digital revenues by 2026, adding that a strong performance in 2023 has shown that it can grow viewing significantly with slightly lower overall content spend.
ITV Studios posted a record turnover of £2.2 billion, up 10%.
ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall said that the broadcaster said its repositioning was paying off. “Our studios business recorded the highest ever revenues and profits and in its first year ITVX delivered strong growth in viewing and digital revenue with investment on plan,” she said. “This growth in production and streaming substantially offset the challenging linear TV advertising market conditions.”
However, the broadcaster admitted Thursday that it could not rule out job cuts and that itv was completing a £150 million savings plan a year earlier than planned.
