Advertising revenues plummeting at ITV amid hopes production arm won’t be hit by Trump tariffs

By DAILY MAIL CITY & FINANCE REPORTER

Updated: 22:00 BST, 15 May 2025

ITV is facing a plunge in advertising – but does not expect its production arm to be hit by proposed US film tariffs.

The company expects revenues to tumble 14 per cent in its second quarter following a 2 per cent slide in the first three months of its financial year.

It blamed strong comparatives from a year earlier when trading was buoyed by the Euro 2024 football tournament.

And it is assessing the ‘possibility of trade tariffs in the US’, but thinks its ITV Studios business should not suffer a direct impact if Donald Trump imposes a 100 per cent levy on international films.

‘ITV Studios only produces TV programming and therefore does not anticipate any direct impact from the imposition of tariffs on films,’ it said.

Its ITV Studios division – producer of hits including Mr Bates vs The Post Office, Fool Me Once, starring Michelle Keegan for Netflix, and the Disney+ adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s novel Rivals – notched up a 1 per cent rise in first-quarter revenues as it returned to growth after the impact of the 2023 US actors and writers strikes.

Cut-throat: ITV’s Studios division produces shows including Mr Bates vs the Post Office and the Disney+ adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s novel Rivals starring David Tennant (centre)

But total group revenue fell 1 per cent to £875million, piling pressure on chief executive Carolyn McCall as she battles to revive ITV. 

She warned the ‘macroeconomic environment is uncertain’ as the shares fell 1.3 per cent, or 1p, to 78p. 

They are down around 70 per cent in the past decade.

ITV has held talks about merging the Studios arm with All3Media to create a company worth more than £3billion.

All3Media is owned by the Abu Dhabi-backed investment group Redbird IMI, and its production hits include TV show The Traitors.

Banijay, the French group behind Big Brother, is also exploring a takeover of the Studios arm or the entire ITV group.

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Advertising revenues plummeting at ITV amid hopes production arm won’t be hit by Trump tariffs

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