World Cup Boosts ITV's June Ad Revenue, Above Market Views -FT

10th Jul 2010 11:40

LONDON (Dow Jones)--The World Cup has allowed ITV PLC (ITV.LN) to exceed analysts expectations for June viewership, with advertising revenue up 45% on its flagship channel compared with June 2009, the Financial Times reported Saturday citing people familiar with the company. The football tournament was the main reason for a performance that went well beyond the predictions of the most bullish analyst, but the fact that the previous year's revenues hit their nadir in June also boosted the figures, the FT said. ITV1 saw sales increase 16% in July and forward bookings for August are up 11%, according to people who have seen the numbers. For the eight months to the end of August, in a national television market up 15.5% to 16%, ITV1 is up 17.5% and the whole company's ad revenues are up 18.5% on the same period in 2009, the Financial Times said. Analysts knew June would be a strong month for the UK's largest commercial broadcaster because of the weak comparable year-ago period and the World Cup, but none had predicted an gain of more than 30%. However, no formal results will be given until early next month, when ITV presents its figures for the first half of 2010. Newspaper Web site: http://www.ft.com -London Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9269 (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 10, 2010 06:40 ET (10:40 GMT)