Online viewing of ITV’s programmes rose by 39% year-on-year in the nine months ending 30th September. There are now 9.6 million monthly active users of the ITV Hub.
ITV told investors this morning that the broadcaster had delivered further growth across the board, with ITV main channel’s share of viewing (SOV) up from 16.6% to 17.0%.
The Euro 2020 championships, Love Island and dramas including Manhunt and Vera help increase viewing figures. Meanwhile, the number of viewers watching a live simulcast of ITV’s channels via the ITV Hub rose 51% in the first nine months of 2021. However, compared to a full calendar year, figures were slightly down, due to the impact of lockdown viewing in 2020.
The broadcaster declined to comment on BritBox UK subscriptions, other than to say it was performing “well and on plan”. ITV owns a 90% stake in BritBox UK. Meanwhile, ITV confirmed it was on track to double the amount of content available on the ITV Hub by the end of the year.
ITV says the figures confirm that the first phase of its plan to move beyond traditional TV has been a success. It now wants to focus on its ‘products’ and transform how users access its services.
Carolyn McCall, ITV Chief Executive, said:
By any standards ITV has had an outstanding nine months. Both our Studios and Media & Entertainment (M&E) businesses have performed very strongly. Revenue from each business over the nine months is up both on last year and on 2019. This drove total external revenue up 28% compared to 2020 and 8% higher than 2019.
Today’s results further illustrate that ITV has successfully completed the first phase of its More Than TV strategy and is accelerating the second phase of digital transformation as we evolve our products, user experiences and ways of working.