Published: March 5, 2026 at 8:32 am
ITV’s full‑year results paint a picture of a broadcaster working hard to stay upright as the media landscape buckles and twists around it. After a bruising year, the headline news is surprisingly upbeat: ITV managed to steer through a sharp advertising downturn and still beat market expectations.
This was largely thanks to record profits from ITV Studios, which continues to hold the group steady as linear TV stumbles.
Its streaming bet, ITVX, is also finally earning its keep. Digital viewing rose 12% and digital ad revenues climbed 15%, and the platform is now expected to recoup its multi-year investment by the end of 2025 – a rare achievement in a streaming industry littered with billion‑dollar losses.
But the gloss only goes so far. Total group revenue still slipped 3% as Studios income softened and the advertising market remained unpredictable. The company has clearly made impressive strategic progress, but it is operating in an industry undergoing rapid, unforgiving change, where innovation arrives at breakneck speed and loyalty is fleeting.
So yes – it’s a good result, a testament to grit and reinvention. But ITV isn’t out of the jungle yet. The hard part is not surviving the storm but proving it can thrive once the clouds clear.