ITV has unveiled a further £15 million in cost savings after pre-tax profits fell by 44 per cent to £99 million in the first half of the year, compared with the same period in 2024. The broadcaster's total advertising revenues dropped by 7 per cent to £824 million, which it attributed to the absence of a major men's football tournament comparable to last year's European Championship.
The company said it struggled to replicate the strong advertising performance during last year's men's Euros, which had driven a 17 per cent rise in ad revenue in the second quarter as England reached the final. Despite the decline, ITV's results beat City analysts' expectations, and shares rose around 13 per cent on the day.
Chief executive Carolyn McCall said the broadcaster had budgeted for the Euros effect and mitigated the impact in a softer market. The company now expects a better outturn for the full year 2025, driven by cost efficiencies. Total cost savings for this year will reach £45 million, combining new initiatives and annualised benefits from previous cuts.
Separately, ITV trimmed its programming budget by £20 million to £1.23 billion, saying it was optimising content spend to reflect viewer dynamics. Total advertising revenue is forecast to be “marginally down” in the third quarter, again due to the previous year's Euros.
However, England's run to the final of the women's Euro 2025 tournament has softened the decline. ITV's gamble on picking the first semi-final paid off, with a peak audience of 10.2 million watching England's dramatic extra-time victory over Italy. This match became ITV's highest average audience of the year among adults aged 16-34 and broke streaming records on ITVX.
