- Share this article on Facebook
- Share this article on Twitter
- Share this article on Flipboard
- Share this article on Email
- Show additional share options
- Share this article on Linkedin
- Share this article on Pinit
- Share this article on Reddit
- Share this article on Tumblr
- Share this article on Whatsapp
- Share this article on Print
- Share this article on Comment
U.K. TV giant ITV is targeting to double the number of scripted programming hours created by its production arm ITV Studios and boost the percentage of revenue it gets from streamers from 14 percent this year to around 25 percent by 2026.
The company, led by CEO Carolyn McCall, unveiled the targets Thursday and also said it expect total revenue at ITV Studios to “recover to 2019 levels in 2022” following disruption due to the coronavirus pandemic. “Thereafter we expect total organic revenues to grow by at least 5 percent on average per annum, which is ahead of the forecasted growth for the global content market.”
ITV said it is making 200 hours of “high-end” scripted content this year, meaning its ambition is to grow that to 400 hours by 2026. It also shared that it has 16 global formats produced in three or more countries in 2021, but plans to boost that figure to 20 by 2026.
Related Stories
“The vision we set out for ITV Studios in 2018 was to strengthen and grow our U.K. and international production business into a high-quality and diversified global business,” McCall said. “We have made very significant progress and we are now a key scaled player in the global content market, diversified by genre, geography and customer base, and we are in a position of strength to take advantage of the growing demand for quality content.” She added: “We are operating in a growth market and strategically pivoting our business to align with the key drivers of that growth.”
Julian Bellamy, managing director of ITV Studios, lauded the ITV production unit for being “the number one commercial producer in the U.K., one of the largest independent producers of unscripted content in the U.S. and one of the biggest global producers/distributors in the world.” ITV Studios has 60 production labels across 13 countries and a catalog with more than 90,000 hours of content.
“Our priorities remain to grow our scripted business; expand our global formats business; diversify our customer base; and strengthen our creative talent,” he said. “Attracting and retaining the very best talent underpins our ability to deliver against our priorities for which we have a strong track record. Since 2015 we have doubled our proportion of scripted revenues from 15 percent to around 30 percent; we now have over 285 formats globally, up from around 165 in 2015; and we have grown our revenues from streamers as we have tilted our business toward the strong growth in demand from that part of the market.”
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day