ITV warns of up to 10% fall in fourth-quarter advertising revenue

ITV Expects Up to 10% Fall in Fourth-Quarter Advertising Revenue

ITV's Financial Performance and Advertising Revenue Outlook

LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - ITV, the British broadcaster that has agreed to sell its channels and streaming business to Sky, said on Wednesday it expected advertising revenue to decline by as much as 10% in the important final quarter.

Advertising Revenue Projections

• "Due to the weaker demand for advertising, we expect TAR (total advertising revenue) to be down around 5-10% in Q4 and down around 2-3% for the full year 2026," it said

• Analysts had expected advertising in the quarter to fall by 1.8% on average

Cost-Saving Measures

• To align costs with advertiser demand, ITV has identified £30 million of additional temporary savings in Q4, including £25 million of content savings

Revenue Performance in 2026

• Total revenue for the first nine months to end-September fell 1% to £2.76 billion ($3.68 billion), broadly in line with analyst expectations

• Total advertising revenue was down 1% year-on-year for the nine-month period, slightly below previous guidance impacted by macroeconomic uncertainty. Third-quarter ad revenue was down 8%

ITV Studios and Digital Revenue Growth

• ITV said it expected ITV Studios to deliver good revenue growth over the full year, driven by external revenue. Revenue, margin and profit will be heavily weighted to Q4

Executive Commentary

• Chief Executive Carolyn McCall said: "Despite a more challenging market, we remain on track to deliver good revenue growth in ITV Studios and continued profitable digital revenue growth in Media & Entertainment (M&E) over the full year."

Additional Information

($1 = 0.7492 pounds)

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Sarah Young)