ITV to cut show budgets as UK TV and film production spend drops by more than £2bn

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Broadcaster plans to make £30m in ‘temporary’ savings before inquiry into takeover by SkyBusiness live – latest updatesITV plans to slash its programming budget as new figures…

Ad revenue slowdown forces company to reduce spending on content by £25m before inquiry into takeover by Sky

ITV plans to cut costs by £30m this year, as the TV sector faces a chill wind of ditched commissions, falling advertising sales and job reductions.

The broadcaster, which has agreed to sell its television and streaming business to Sky, expects ad revenues in that division to fall between 5% and 10% in the crucial final quarter of the year, despite the typically busy Christmas season.

Ad sales are expected to drop between 2% and 3% over the course of the full year, ITV said.

The slowdown has pushed the company to make “temporary” savings, including £25m in content and £5m elsewhere in the business.

Content budget cuts will mostly affect small external commissions, pushing them into 2027, it is understood.

Carolyn McCall, the ITV chief executive, said demand for ads had weakened because of “continuing broader macroeconomic uncertainty” and “ increased digital advertising on global streaming platforms”. She also cited new rules this year that imposed a 9pm watershed on TV advertising for less healthy food.

Shares in ITV, which are listed on London’s FTSE 250 index, dropped by as much as 5% in early trading on Wednesday. It has lost about a fifth of its market value since the start of the year.

The business has struggled in recent years to keep up with deep-pocketed companies such as Netflix and YouTube, which have muscled in on traditional media’s audiences and commercial revenue.

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