U.K. commercial broadcaster ITV is ready to step into the breach in case of U.S. programming schedules being impacted down the line because of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes.
“We are hoping for a swift resolution [to the strikes]” said Julian Bellamy, MD of ITV’s production arm ITV Studios. “In terms of the broader point, one of our strengths is a strong U.K. and international pipeline and we do have a distribution arm that offers a catalogue of 90,000 hours. So we’re in a good position to take advantage of any opportunities that arise.”
“Or to just to help,” added ITV CEO Carolyn McCall. “What we’ll be doing is to see whether we can help fill their schedules. We’re not gonna be charging premiums, by the way, we think we should be offering our customers what they [want] from our catalogue if they require it.”
McCall and Bellamy were speaking during the broadcaster’s earnings call after the half-yearly financial results were declared on Thursday. When asked about the strikes’ impact on ITV’s own schedules the executives said that 2023 would not be affected but 2024 could. McCall said that the impact would only be on ITV’s scripted business in the U.S. and that it was a question of phasing of deliveries.
“It is very important to remember in that context, one of the great strengths of [ITV] Studios is, we’re very diversified in terms of customer and genre and geography. So we’re in a good position to manage it,” Bellamy said.
The earnings themselves did not paint a very rosy picture. While revenues held steady with a decline of only 2%, profits plummeted more than 50% thanks to the tough advertising market, which McCall described as the “worst advertising recession” since the 2008 global financial crash. But the outlook remains hopeful.
Earlier this week, global giant Unilever said that inflation had peaked. McCall said this was “fantastic.” “That’s the kind of thing that will really help consumers and it will therefore help business confidence,” McCall said, adding that every one of ITV’s shows has a sponsor and revenue. “So there is a lot of positivity, but it is impossible to have visibility on Q4,” McCall added.