ITV shows strong Q3 ad revenues on growing audience share

19th Nov 2013 07:07

- Q3 net ad revenues ahead of guidance- Share of viewing up 4 per cent- TV ad market 'showing signs of improvement'Investment in its television productions paid off for ITV in the third quarter, with revenues rising ahead of guidance and audience share swelling to boost future advertising potential. Furthermore, 3% growth in broadcast and online revenues were driven by 17% growth in online, pay and interactive and 11% in ITV Studios won productions such as Downton Abbey, which helped the group lift revenues 6% to £1.66bn for the nine months to the end of September.Chief Executive Adam Crozier said net advertising revenues (NAR) for the ITV Family of channels was up 11% in the third quarter, ahead of the 9% he had expected at the half-year, and he guided towards a 2% for the full year.This could be attributed to a robust on-screen performance, with what Crozier maintained was "an increasingly varied and high quality schedule", boosted by recent acquisitions to broaden the ITV Studios slate. Audience figures reflected this, with ITV's share of viewing (SOV) on ITV 1 up 3% and the ITV Family SOV up 4%, compared to 1% in the first half, thanks in part to ITV2 and ITV3 remaining the most popular digital channels in the UK. "This strong viewing performance clearly stands us in good stead for our 2014 advertising agreements," Crozier said, adding that he was confident of a strong Studios performance over the full year, "underpinned by a delivery schedule which this year is weighted to Q4". He added that the group was on track to make cost savings of £25m over the year, £5m ahead of initial targets.Crozier said ITV was now a "more balanced" business and with the television advertising market "showing signs of improvement" this would benefit the core Broadcast business and help the online segment deliver double digit revenue growth for the full year.The recent loss of ITV's Champions League football rights from 2015/16 season was viewed as 'insignificant' by Credit Suisse from an audience share/revenue perspective, with some of the circa £50m yearly rights costs expected to drop out from 2016. OH