ITV to cut costs by £30m on back of worsening advertising market
ITV has revealed plans to cut costs by another £30m by the end of the year as it warned over a worsening advertising market.
The group – which struck a £1.6bn deal in July to sell its media and entertainment division to Sky – said total advertising revenues fell eight per cent in the quarter to the end of September and cautioned they could fall by up to 10 per cent in the final three months of the year as it said demand for advertising had “weakened”.
ITV, which makes hit shows such as I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!, now expects total ad revenues to fall by two per cent to three per cent over the year as a whole, saying the market has been impacted by competition from streaming rivals, global economic uncertainty and last year’s introduction of restrictions on junk food advertising aired on TV and online.
ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall said the group was taking “decisive action” to offset the weaker market, stripping out £30m in costs from its media and entertainment division.
Around £25m of this will come from content savings, such as by delaying airing of some content into next year, as well as £5m from “discretionary non-content savings” as it looks to tighten its belt across the business.
It confirmed jobs were not set to be impacted by the cost-cutting.
Dame Carolyn said: “Demand for advertising in the second half has weakened.
“This is due to continuing broader macroeconomic uncertainty, increased digital advertising on global streaming platforms and the impact of less healthy food regulations which came into effect on October 1 2025.
“We are taking decisive action, aligning our investment with advertiser demand to deliver additional temporary content and discretionary non-content cost savings in the fourth quarter.”
She added: “While the outlook for advertising remains muted, we are firmly focused on self-help and mitigating actions.”
Speaking on the results, Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said ITV is competing with the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney Plus “for a slice of the advertising pie”.
He said: “ITV has no problem showing reruns, but its third-quarter update won’t be one it wants to repeat. Both its broadcasting and studios arms suffered from a decline in sales, creating the equivalent of a show no one wants to watch.
“Advertising demand has weakened which often happens when companies worry about the economic backdrop.
“It also doesn’t help that all the big streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney Plus are now full of advertisements, meaning ITV is competing against these giants for a slice of the advertising pie."