ITV has forecasted a dip in advertising revenue in its 2022 end-of-year result, despite the anticipated ad spend boost from the men’s FIFA World Cup, which takes place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December. 

Following ITV’s Q2 results, where ad revenue was down five percent year on year, its latest Q3 earnings reported that total advertising revenue was down 2% over the nine months this year.

ITV expects its end-of-year ad revenue to be down between 1% and 1.5%, but with a 3% year-on-year increase in the month of November and a 5% to 10% increase in December, boosted by World Cup viewing. The launch of its new ad-funded, free streaming service ITVX on 8 December will also be “in time to reach millions of viewers who will come to ITV for the FIFA World Cup”, the broadcaster said.

Advertising spend in the wider UK market is forecasted to increase in Q4 as the World Cup arrives in the build-up to Christmas. Linear TV ad investment is expected to reach £1.7bn and video-on-demand is forecast to grow at 4.2%, according to the latest Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report. Total ad investment across all media will bring the UK ad spend in Q4 to a new high of £9.5bn.

Credit: WARC