ITV recorded a 2% rise in overall revenues in the first six months of the year as it continues to benefit from growing its production business.
Total revenues hit £1.3bn, compared to £1.28bn in 2012, delivering a pre-tax profit of £179m, up 11%.
That countered a 3% drop in TV advertising to £741m, but the picture is looking much brighter in the summer, with ad revenue up 12% in July and 20% in August. The broadcaster expects sales to be flat overall for the nine months to the end of September.
The Jeremy Kyle Show is made at MediaCityUK by ITV Studios
Chief executive Adam Crozier is targeting a 50-50 split between advertising and production revenues, largely to protect ITV from advertising volatility.
And that plan appears to be working, with total revenues for ITV Studios – the maker of The Jeremy Kyle Show and Coronation Street – growing by 11% in the first half to £395m. Double-digit growth is expected across the year.
The UK production business as a whole increased revenues by 12% and international production rose by 16%, helped by the acquisition of US production companies Thinkfactory Media and High Noon.
Crozier said: “We’re making good progress with our strategy of growing and rebalancing the business as we build new revenue streams and improve margins.
“We expect both ITV Studios and Online, Pay & Interactive to deliver double digit revenue growth for the year as a whole as we continue to rebalance and strengthen ITV.”
Across all its channels, ITV’s share of viewers rose by 1%, with the main channel also up 1%.
