Acquisitions drive ITV Studios results

ITV Studios has reported a significant increase in revenues off the back of a prolonged acquisition spree.

The content arm of UK broadcaster ITV reported sales of £782 million (US$1.2 billion) for the nine months to end-September, a 28% year-on-year increase, noting that uptick was driven by acquisitions and 9% organic growth.

ITV CEO Adam Crozier said ITV Studios “goes from strength to strength”, and highlighted the deal for Talpa Media and decent organic growth at the ITV Studios US division and the ITV Studios Global Entertainment distribution division.

“Our US dramas have performed well with Aquarius and The Good Witch both recommissioned while in the UK we have a strong pipeline of new drama coming through including Beowulf, Jericho, Victoria and Tutankhamun, as well as returning dramas Unforgotten and Poldark,” Crozier noted.

The strong ITV Studios results drove the wider ITV numbers with group-wide revenue up 13% at £2.3 billion.

Advertising revenue was up 6% with the Rugby World Cup providing a boost and viewing share over the nine months largely held up with the cumulative share of viewing slipping 3% to 21.2%.

The number of requests for content from digital services was 613 million across the first three quarters, compared with 497 million in the same period in 2014.