This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/business/6425627.stm
The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| ITV must do better, admits Grade | ITV must do better, admits Grade |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| ITV's new chief executive has admitted the commercial broadcaster must improve its programming after the group posted a drop in full-year profits. | ITV's new chief executive has admitted the commercial broadcaster must improve its programming after the group posted a drop in full-year profits. |
| Michael Grade said the group must improve its creative ambition, be more innovative and take more risks. | Michael Grade said the group must improve its creative ambition, be more innovative and take more risks. |
| Pre-tax profits fell to £288m ($555m) in the 12 months to 31 December from £311m in 2005. | Pre-tax profits fell to £288m ($555m) in the 12 months to 31 December from £311m in 2005. |
| But ITV believes a slide in advertising revenues, behind most of its decline in profits, is set to stabilise. | |
| ITV blamed a "challenging" advertising market for the fall in annual profits as revenues fell 8% to £1.49bn. ITV1 ad revenues slipped £188m to £1.28bn. | |
| But, strong growth at ITV's digital channel helped offset some weakness at its flagship ITV1 channel. | |
| Advertising hopes | |
| Looking ahead, the group believes overall advertising revenues will grow by 0.5% in the first three months of the year. | |
| In a fragmenting market you've got to be at the cutting edge of programming Michael Grade, ITV Check ITV's shares | |
| The group is also looking to shrug off its contract rights renewal scheme, which limits the amount of money the firm can demand from advertisers making it even more difficult to make money. | |
| The deal was one of the factors that led to the departure of former chief Charles Allen. | |
| Mr Grade - who before joining ITV had been chairman of the BBC - also admitted that the firm had "taken its eye off the ball" as the result of its merger with Carlton last year and was "playing catch-up in many areas". | |
| As a result, he has pledged to improve its programme offering, cut bureaucracy and develop the firm's new media offering. | |
| Improvement plans | |
| "Our overall strategy is right, but we need to improve our allocation of resources in order to accelerate the rate of improvement across all our businesses," Mr Grade said. | |
| "In a fragmenting market you've got to be at the cutting edge of programming," he told BBC Radio 4. The firm is pumping £1bn into its shows. | |
| The company is currently embroiled in a scandal over premium-rate phone-in quizzes, a move that has prompted the group to suspend such competitions. | The company is currently embroiled in a scandal over premium-rate phone-in quizzes, a move that has prompted the group to suspend such competitions. |
| Among the shows affected by the scandal are Saturday Night Takeaway, Dancing On Ice and This Morning. The problems are being investigated by premium-rate watchdog Icstis. | |
| However, Mr Grade vowed that the phone lines would return once an internal review had been carried out to examine the systems and ensure the public could "trust what we are doing". | |
| ITV has also recently hit the headlines as it has been at the centre of a takeover spat between Virgin Media and BSkyB. | ITV has also recently hit the headlines as it has been at the centre of a takeover spat between Virgin Media and BSkyB. |
| BSkyB later bought a 17.9% stake in the firm, a move which is now the subject of an Ofcom investigation. | BSkyB later bought a 17.9% stake in the firm, a move which is now the subject of an Ofcom investigation. |