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The U.K. TV giant, led by CEO Carolyn McCall, reported its latest results.
By Georg Szalai
Global Business Editor
U.K. TV giant ITV, led by CEO Carolyn McCall, is planning 35 million ($46 million) in “temporary,” or “one-off,” cost savings amid “softer” advertising demand in the fourth quarter. The news came Thursday as the company reported the latest revenue for its ITV Studios production arm and advertising business.
Third-quarter revenue came in unchanged from the year-ago period, better than forecast. That leaves nine-month ad revenue down 5 percent year to date. The company had previously forecast that its total ad revenue would come in “marginally down” in the third quarter, “compared to the same period in 2024, reflecting the tough comparative from the final knockout matches of the Men’s Euros in July 2024.” However, the firm had also predicted continued “strong growth in digital advertising revenues.”
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But the current fourth quarter is full of uncertainty, with concern about what the late November budget by Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party government may bring. “The economic outlook in the U.K. remains uncertain, with widespread caution being exercised across business sectors ahead of the budget in November,” ITV highlighted on Thursday. “This is impacting demand for advertising throughout the industry in the fourth quarter, with ITV total advertising revenue (TAR) expected to be down around 9 percent in the quarter.” That would leave full-year 2025 ad revenue down 6 percent.
“In response to this current reduction in advertising demand, we have identified £35 million of additional temporary savings in [our] Media & Entertainment (M&E) [segment] in the fourth quarter,” ITV said. “These savings align our M&E cost base – particularly content and discretionary spend – with the softer advertising demand we are seeing in the fourth quarter and will largely offset the expected reduction in total advertising revenue.”
The cuts will include £20 million ($26 million) in content savings, “as we move some programming into 2026, which will be financed out of the existing 2026 content spending plans,” ITV said. “The total content budget for 2025 is expected to be around £1.21 billion ($1.58 billion).” In July, ITV had lowered its full-year 2025 total content spend estimate to around £1.23 billion ($1.67 billion), compared to the previously indicated £1.25 billion ($1.70 billion), “as we continue to optimize our content spend to best reflect viewer dynamics.”
ITV on Thursday also mentioned £15 million ($20 million) of non-content savings, primarily from reduced discretionary spend reflecting the lower demand environment and reduced marketing spend aligned with the adjusted content slate, and marketing efficiencies.”
Total ITV revenue grew 2 percent to £2.80 billion ($3.66 billion) in the third quarter, driven by an 11 percent gain at ITV Studios. External revenue was up 20 percent, “reflecting strong demand from, and the timing of programs for global streaming platforms.”
ITV Studios had recorded a revenue increase of 3 percent for the first six months of 2025. The production arm, which has been a much-rumored takeover target for various possible bidders in the industry, had back then also said that “we remain on track to deliver our target of total organic revenue growth of 5 percent on average per annum from 2021 to 2026 – ahead of the market.” But it had emphasized that 2025 results would be weighed more towards the second half of the year.
The company’s streaming service ITVX continued to perform strongly with growth in both streaming hours and digital ad revenue in the nine months to Sept. 30.
“ITV has delivered a good performance in a tough advertising market,” McCall said on Thursday. “Our strategic initiatives continue to progress well, and we remain confident in delivering good growth in ITV Studios revenue and digital revenue for the full year. This is supported by laser-focused strategic cost management and underpinned by our resilient and highly cash generative linear broadcast business.”
In July, ITV unveiled an additional £15 million ($20 million) in permanent non-content cost savings, taking the total group permanent non-content savings in 2025 to £45 million ($61 million). CFO Chris Kennedy in the mid-year earnings call cited technology and process efficiencies as drivers of the latest set of cost reductions. “Everyone is really focused on … rebalancing the cost base” to ensure continued business success, he said.
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