ITV Unveils New Cost Cuts, First-Half Ad Revenue Drop After Year-Ago Soccer Boost, Studios Gain

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In the realm of gaming and streaming, I, a dedicated enthusiast, am here to share some insights about ITV’s financial performance during the first half of 2025. On a thrilling Thursday, this broadcasting titan, ITV, unveiled its revenue figures, revealing a 7% dip in advertising income. Surprisingly, this decline was less steep than anticipated, thanks to the massive ad revenue surge we experienced during the same period last year, courtesy of the men’s Euros soccer tournament. In the second quarter, our ad revenue dipped by 12%, but again, it was less than what our management had forecasted. The Euros tournament really came through for us back then!

Advertising income increased by 2% during the previous six months relative to 2023, as pointed out by ITV, under the leadership of CEO Carolyn McCall, in their first-half financial report released early this morning in London.

For the initial half of 2025, ITV Studios reported a 3% jump in revenue. The production division, often speculated as a potential takeover target within the industry, had earlier assured that they were on course to meet their goal of a 5% average annual organic revenue growth from 2021 to 2026, exceeding market expectations. However, this year’s growth is anticipated to be more concentrated in the latter half.

In summary, ITV announced a 31% decrease in their first-half adjusted EBITA, which now stands at approximately £146 million ($198 million). Meanwhile, their total revenue for the same period experienced a slight dip of 1%, amounting to around £1.85 billion ($2.51 billion).

ITV has announced an extra £15 million ($20 million) in permanent non-content savings, bringing the total group’s savings in 2025 to £45 million ($61 million). To achieve this, there will be a one-time cost of £40 million ($54 million). The company expects its content spend in 2025 to be approximately £1.23 billion ($1.67 billion), lower than the previously estimated £1.25 billion ($1.70 billion) due to ongoing efforts to optimize content spending based on viewer trends. Despite economic uncertainty, ITV now anticipates a better performance for the full year 2025, mainly due to these cost savings.

McCall stated that ITV has transformed into a streamlined, digital enterprise, ready to thrive and excel in an evolving marketplace. This transformation equips us with the flexibility and potential to capitalize on emerging revenue sources while fostering profitable expansion, robust cash production, and appealing returns for our shareholders.

She noted: “ITV Studios is experiencing continued progress, as evidenced by robust expansion in revenue from external sources during the first half. This growth is primarily fueled by content production for global streaming platforms, such as ‘The Devil’s Hour’ for Amazon Prime Video and ‘Run Away’ for Netflix.

It’s projected that advertising revenue will see a slight decrease during Q3, contrasting with the same period in 2024. This is attributed to the challenging comparison against the final matches of the Men’s Euros held in July 2024, as per ITV’s prediction. However, they anticipate persistent growth in digital advertising revenues within this timeframe.

ITV remains committed to expanding its thriving production enterprise, as McCall previously stated while refraining from addressing rumors of a potential merger for ITV Studios. “Our business is exceptionally robust,” she noted. “We’ve already achieved significant scale, and our diversification is strong.” She added that the speculation surrounding ITV Studios is to be expected, but it’s not something they will comment on. “What we can say is that we will keep growing the business as it has been developed. Our growth since 2018 has been approximately 35%,” she concluded.

Inquired about future industry mergers, McCall stated that the general agreement, be it in the United States, the U.K., or Europe, is that such consolidation will increase. She added, however, that her company is managing to maintain its position.

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2025-07-24 09:24