Phone-in scandal hits ITV profits

ITV lost £58m from the call-TV crisis last year, as tumbling revenues from premium-rate services contributed to a 5% decline in revenues and a 35% slide in pre-tax profits.
The broadcaster today reported revenues of £2.08bn in 2007, down 5% on £2.18bn the year before, while profits before tax were £188m, 35% down on the £288m recorded in 2006.
The company said revenues from premium-rate services - including the now discontinued ITV Play channel and late-night strand - were down by £58m.
Last year ITV uncovered a number of incidents where viewers had been misled by programmes involving call-TV and is now co-operating with an investigation by media watchdog Ofcom.
"Such incidents for the most part appeared to stem from misguided editorial judgments taken with a view to maximising viewer enjoyment, not from any desire to maximise PRS revenues," the ITV executive chairman, Michael Grade, said today.
"Nonetheless we let our viewers down and that is inexcusable."
He said the board's remuneration committee of the board had "taken account of PRS issues" in calculating the annual bonuses awarded to the executive team.
Another area in which ITV reported declining revenues was in the content division, where revenues were down £37m.
Net advertising revenue - ITV's main revenue stream - held steady at £1.49bn, while revenues from the company's digital channels rose by 33% to £209m.
Ad revenues are estimated to be up 1.9% for the first quarter of 2008, the company added.