Recent reports
ITV H1 2025 results: Revenue and reach down
28 July 2025With no major men’s football tournament, ITV’s advertising revenue fell well short of a tough YoY comparison (-7%, £824 million) while Studios appears to be settling after a demanding last couple of years (+3%, £893 million)
ITVX is showing encouraging momentum—especially in terms of its usage profile—however, as a whole, ITV saw viewing share again decline, while losing another 600k regular-viewing households
This market demands proactivity—hence the announcement of collaboration between the three major sale houses, and further measures by ITV to target small to medium-sized businesses
BT: Surprisingly strong Openreach
28 July 2025BT started its FY26 with robust financials. Revenue was slightly weak due to handsets and international, but EBITDA was slightly ahead of expectations, and operating metrics were strong.
The highlight was Openreach posting its lowest broadband line losses for over a year despite ongoing altnet pressure, and keeping revenue growth positive despite reduced inflationary price increases.
The altnet threat is still far from over, but it is encouraging that there are signs that it is beginning to wane as the sub-sector moves to a more rational wholesale model.
Enormous AI capacity unlocked by 2026, combined with investor pressure for returns, is stimulating a rapid escalation in AI products that could spawn an AI ‘super app’ ecosystem that supplants the world of search and links
There is no turning back: Google is transforming search and YouTube while OpenAI and Perplexity launch AI browsers to capture user attention. OpenAI’s ChatGPT agent moves it further from Microsoft, who is yet to finalise their long-term relationship
Meta may pivot to a closed AI model without an ‘anchor tenant’—feeding Mark Zuckerberg’s ambition to revolutionise advertising. Meta is positioning new AI supercharged hardware in the consumer space designed to eclipse the smartphone