Streaming service Britbox bolsters ITV’s third quarter financials
14.11.17
by Editorial Staff
14.11.17
by Editorial Staff
*This blog post first appeared on the Massive Interactive blog. Massive was acquired by Deltatre in November 2018.
British commercial broadcaster ITV heralded “strong growth” at its ITV America production business and U.S streaming service Britbox after posting third quarter financial results in line with market expectations.
The broadcaster, which airs shows including The X Factor and The Voice, managed to slow the decline in advertising growth over the last three months. Net advertising revenues to the nine months to end of September were down 7% to £1.1BN ($1.4BN). However, a 4% decline in the last quarter was better than the 8% fall over the previous six months. ITV said it expects to “outperform” the overall TV ad market in 2017.
Revenues at ITV Studios were up 9% to £1.1BN and the firm said it will continue to invest in its “creative capability” following investments in Italian drama producer Cattleya and Nick Emmerson’s UK entertainment start-up Koska.
ITV Executive Chairman Peter Bazalgette said: “ITV Studios delivered a strong performance with good underlying growth across all parts of the business and particularly strong growth in ITV America. We are making real progress in building a European scripted business with the recent acquisition of Italian producer Cattleya. This, along with our investment in Tetra in France and our existing European drama businesses, will enable us to benefit from the increasing demand for locally produced content with global appeal.”
Similarly, online, pay and interactive revenues were up 8%, helped by a 41% increase in online viewing to its ITV Hub service, thanks to shows including reality hit Love Island.
“Britbox US, our SVoD joint venture with the BBC, was launched earlier this year and is performing well. Over time we are planning to roll the service out to other territories,” Bazalgette added.
Next up, ITV will be looking forward to the arrival of new CEO Carolyn McCall, who joins in early 2018 as a replacement for Adam Crozier.
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