ITV has reported a 17% surge in advertising revenue fuelled by the Euro 2024 tournament, while announcing that it has taken a majority stake in the production company behind shows including Sherlock, The Devil’s Hour and Douglas Is Cancelled.
The broadcaster said on Thursday that total ad revenue – including TV and digital – was up 17% year on year for the three months to the end of June, ahead of a forecast rise of 12%.
ITV channels carried live coverage of 16 Euro 2024 group stage matches in June, including England v Slovenia, and the national side’s round-of-16 victory over Slovakia. ITV1 also broadcast England’s semi-final victory over the Netherlands on 10 July and shared live coverage of the defeat to Spain in the final with the BBC four days later.
Carolyn McCall, ITV’s chief executive, said: “There is no question we had a good lift from the Euros in June and in a small part of July.”
Overall, ITV ad revenues increased by 10% in the first half of 2024 to £889m. Adjusted profit before tax for the period was up 51% year on year to £178m, on a 3% dip in total revenues to £1.9bn.
Its production arm, ITV Studios, reported a 13% fall in revenues for the first half, affected by the writers’ and actors’ strike in the US and the timing of the deliveries of shows to broadcasters.
ITV’s share price closed down nearly 4% on Thursday, at 81p, after the company forecast “broadly flat” ad revenues for the three months to the end of September.
ITV also announced that its production arm had taken a 51% stake in Hartswood Films, the company behind the Emmy-winning series Sherlock, for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 1979 by the late Beryl Vertue, Hartswood, which is based in London and Cardiff, is the UK’s longest-established scripted TV production company. The management team includes the chief executive, Sue Vertue, Beryl’s daughter, and the creative director, Steven Moffat, co-creator of Sherlock.
Hartswood’s other credits include Men Behaving Badly, Coupling and The Time Traveler’s Wife.
