Britain may not have fallen for Julian Fellowesâ class-obsessed Titanic, but apparently international demand for the series has helped boost ITV revenues by 13%.
The drama has now been bought up by almost 100 countries, helping ITV Studios to rake in around £565mn in the first quarter of the year.
The staggering figure improved by almost two-thirds compared to this time last year, with analysts pointing towards earlier-than-expected broadcasting for many shows and strong international demand for shows. Prime Suspect and Jeremy Kyle have also been prime British exports in 2012.
Despite the positive studio production and demand figures, advertising revenue for the broadcaster took a surprise dip. Audience share (obviously key in determining advertising rates) fell 2% in Q1, resulting in a 1% reduction in income.
Top dog at the channel, Adam Crozier, is not fazed. Far from it! He remains upbeat about the channelâs potential over the coming months given the impending football fest and remaining Britainâs Got Talent shows. The Euro 2012 football championships should see ad. revenues up by as much as 17%, spring boarded by an expected 6% rise this month thanks to BGT.
“We expect to outperform the TV ad market in the first half and for the year as a whole,” Mr Crozier said, adding that a âstrong autumn lineupâ? would also help to boost revenues by 3% later in the year.
If Crozier is right, then shareholders will be chuffed with his progress with the much-touted âTransformation Planâ?. The strategy, intended for âgrowing and rebalancing the businessâ?, will be on track in year three of five if it makes its end-of-year forecasts.
ITV’s share price has nearly tripled since Mr C took over, and the company has moved from making a regular loss into profit. Aside from share prices? The other advantage of all this extra cash is that we, the humble viewer, should be afforded some finer viewing experiencesâ¦letâs hope all that cash doesnât end up in any deep pockets.
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