ITV's got talent to be 'very, very successful', says Grade

Published on Thursday 14 May 2009 21:22

BIG name television shows such as Britain's Got Talent will help ITV to a successful future, the broadcaster claimed yesterday as it revealed plans for another £40 million in cost savings.

Executive chairman Michael Grade told a shareholder meeting that ITV would be a "very, very, very successful business indeed", but warned the impact of falling advertising revenues had hit the company hard.

ITV yesterday reported a 14 per cent slide in first-quarter revenues and said it would now look to save a total of 215m in 2010 and 285m in 2011 in a cost-cutting programme that has seen it announce a 1,600 reduction to its workforce.

The broadcaster reported group revenues of 425m for the first three months of the year, down from 492m a year ago.

Net television advertising revenues for ITV fell 15 per cent, although this outperformed a wider 16 per cent fall in the market and was better than the 17 per cent expected by the group.

But tough conditions are forecast to see net advertising revenues fall 16 per cent this month and worsen in May to a drop of 18 per cent, according to ITV.

Grade told investors: "Certainly, conditions in the advertising market are the most challenging I have experienced in 30 years.

"This business has a fantastic future as long as we can go on producing Britain's Got Talent, as long as we can go on producing programmes which attract millions of people," he said. "This business will be a very, very, very successful business indeed, I am just sorry we are going through this horrible recession."

ITV said cost savings would be made in a number of areas, including workforce reduction and cutting overheads in its UK studios business. It is also trimming its "red button" and interactive services to focus on its online video production.

The broadcaster said its share of commercial impacts – a key measure giving the proportion of overall TV advertising seen by ITV viewers – continued to fall for ITV1, down 6 per cent, although it said the overall audience share for the main family of channels remained broadly stable.

ITV claimed it maintained its lead over BBC1 in peak viewing times, with shows such as Britain's Got Talent, and new drama Whitechapel.

Grade, who will step down to become non-executive chairman before the end of the year, faced some criticism from shareholders, who asked why he was paid a bonus last year when the company reported a 2.7 billion loss.

But the firm said that Grade – who received 934,000 in salary and benefits last year – had not seen his basic pay rise since 2007. His bonus was also scaled back – to 28 per cent of salary – and was all paid in company shares.