ITV profits slump 35%
ITV was in crisis today after it revealed a 35 per cent slump in profits and a big drop in viewers for its flagship channel.
ITV was in crisis today after it revealed a 35 per cent slump in profits and a big drop in viewers for its flagship channel.
Viewing figures for ITV1, home to shows such as Dancing On Ice, X Factor and Wild At Heart, showed a drop of 2.1 per cent for 2007. The company today revealed pre-tax profits of £188 million compared to £288 million the year before.
Its executive chairman Michael Grade said it has been hit by a drop in advertising and increased investment in digital channels.
ITV has been affected by a number of phone-in scandals in the past year, hitting programmes such as Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway and Gameshow Marathon. X Factor also saw millions of phone-in votes not counted.
The company lost £58 million in revenue because of a temporary freeze on premium-rate competitions and also risked alienating loyal viewers.
Mr Grade said today: "We let our viewers down and that is inexcusable. We are determined to restore public trust in ITV and UK broadcasting as a whole."
He remained upbeat about the future, saying the ITV channels as a whole delivered their first viewing increase since the early 1990s. The decline in advertising revenue at ITV1 also slowed, down four per cent last year compared to a 12 per cent drop in 2006.
He picked out talent show Britain's Got Talent, won by mobile phone salesman Paul Potts, as a highlight from last year. It saw viewers increase from four million to 12.5 million across nine nights last June.
But Mr Grade, who joined the broadcaster at the end of 2006, has also overseen a number of TV flops in the last year, including Moving Wallpaper and Echo Beach. Drama The Palace only attracted 3.3 million viewers on Monday night, and News at Ten has also struggled.
ITV's net advertising revenue was flat at £1.49 million for 2007. The value of ITV shares have halved in the last six months.
