Slump in ad revenue outweighs record income from studio business
ITV has recorded a sharp drop in annual profits as the brutal advertising downturn seen last year outweighed record revenues in its studios business, which made the recent hit drama Mr Bates v the Post Office.
The UK’s largest free-to-air commercial broadcaster said pre-tax profits had fallen 61% to £193m in 2023 against £501m in 2022 as it was hit by a drop in advertising revenue as well as the planned investment in its ITVX streaming service.
The broadcaster has struggled with a difficult advertising market which Carolyn McCall, chief executive of ITV, has described as the “worst advertising recession since the global financial crisis” of 2008.
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