ITV has announced it has furloughed around 800 members of staff, which equates to about 15 per cent of its UK workforce.
The majority of those who have been furloughed are from ITV Studios. The broadcaster added that, “internationally we are taking part in other schemes where appropriate.”
Since mid-March ITV Studios has suspended most of its productions due to the global pandemic. ITV said that had resulted in a “significant impact on the demand for advertising across most advertising categories,” and in April, advertising revenues were down 42 per cent.
ITV Studios’ quarterly revenue fell 11 per cent “impacted by the phasing of deliveries and restrictions on working practices due to COVID-19.”
The broadcaster added it is beginning to plan for a return to production, saying it “is in the final stages of working with others across the industry on a return-to-production protocol, and we are in active discussions with government on this.”
ITV CEO Carolyn McCall said ITV is “continuing to reduce costs and tightly manage our cash flow and liquidity,” while focusing on the future. “We are now very focused on emerging from this crisis in a strong position, continuing to offer advertisers effective marketing opportunities and making preparations to restart productions safely,” she added.
ITV did report some good news, citing “good growth for BritBox free trial starts and subscriptions” and said “interactive revenues are growing well with increased demand for ITV’s competitions.”
