ITV will make £30 million of temporary savings after advertising revenue fell 8 per cent in the third quarter, the broadcaster said in a trading update on Wednesday. The cuts come as ITV warned that advertising demand has weakened further, with total advertising revenue now expected to fall by 5 to 10 per cent in the fourth quarter and by 2 to 3 per cent for the full year.

Total advertising revenue was down 1 per cent for the nine months to 30 September, which ITV said outperformed its broadcast competitors but was slightly below previous guidance. Group revenue for the nine months fell 1 per cent to £2.76 billion, while group external revenue was down 2 per cent.

Content savings to match weaker demand

To align its costs with advertiser demand, ITV has identified £30 million of additional temporary savings in its Media and Entertainment business in the fourth quarter. The savings comprise £25 million of content savings and £5 million of discretionary non-content savings, and the total content budget for 2026 is expected to be around £1.2 billion.

Chief executive Carolyn McCall blamed continuing broader economic uncertainty, increased digital advertising on global streaming platforms and the impact of restrictions on advertising less healthy food, which came into effect on 1 October 2025. She said that despite a more challenging market, ITV remains on track to deliver good revenue growth in ITV Studios and continued profitable digital revenue growth over the full year.

Digital growth offsets linear decline

Media and Entertainment revenue fell 1 per cent over the nine months, with 7 per cent growth in digital revenue offsetting the decline in linear advertising. Digital advertising revenue grew 6 per cent, and ITVX delivered record viewing, with total streaming hours up 29 per cent to 2,153 million. ITVX passed 1 billion streams for the third consecutive quarter, and by the end of October it had already passed its entire 2025 streaming total, reaching 3.6 billion streams.

ITV Studios revenue fell 1 per cent to £1.33 billion, with internal revenue up 4 per cent and external revenue down 4 per cent, reflecting the phasing of production deliveries and licensing deals, which are heavily weighted to the fourth quarter. The studio produced five of the UK's top ten most-watched dramas in the third quarter, including The Gentlemen for Netflix, Ludwig season two and Vigil season three for the BBC.

Sky sale progressing as planned

The agreed sale of ITV's Media and Entertainment business to Sky for up to £1.6 billion is progressing as planned, McCall said, with completion still expected in the second half of 2027. On 4 November the Secretary of State issued a Public Interest Intervention Notice, an expected milestone in the regulatory review, with the Competition and Markets Authority examining competition issues and Ofcom examining media public interest issues. Shares in ITV fell nearly 5 per cent in early trading in London on Wednesday after the advertising warning.