ITV upbeat after revenues boost

ITV’s leadership crisis took a back seat today after the British broadcaster forecast a return to growth in its key measure of advertising revenues.

The group, which is currently searching for a non-executive chairman to oversee the appointment of a new chief executive, said there were signs of stabilisation in the UK television advertising market.

It said net advertising revenues (NAR) for the ITV family of channels were expected to be flat over the final quarter of 2009, with December seeing a 4% rise. Over the whole year, NAR is expected to be down 12%.

With its schedules boosted by the return of hit shows such as 'X-Factor' and 'Doc Martin', the broadcaster said ITV1’s share of peak-time viewing stood at 23.1%, ahead of BBC1 at 22.2%.

Chief operating officer John Cresswell said: “Whilst our visibility is limited, the outlook for the fourth quarter has continued to improve and ITV is continuing to outperform the market.

“With further cost savings and a strong schedule in 2010, including the World Cup, we are confident that ITV is well-positioned to benefit from any market recovery.”