ITV ad revenue “enormous”, no plans to cut spend as broadcaster seeks ‘Saturday Night Takeaway’ replacement

Saturday Night Takeaway

ITV has no plans to cut commissioning spend despite the current economic challenges facing the industry, MD Kevin Lygo has said.

“We’re doing really well – we’re fortunate because we’re a great big beast. Our advertising revenue is enormous and the studios division is very profitable,” Lygo reassured producers.

The ITV boss was speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival, where he told the audience: “We are not cutting our budget at the moment, we are commissioning as much as we have.

“And you’ve got to remember, ITVX has only come in the last year. And that’s another £100-£130m of stuff – a lot of acquisitions, a lot of commissions.”

However, Lygo did acknowledge the current challenges “particularly for smaller factual producers”, adding that he wanted to “accelerate our seed money and development spend”.

Lily Wilson, commissioning editor of entertainment for ITV, said during the same panel that she is looking for “mass appeal” shows for the UK commercial broadcaster, most specifically something to replace entertainment format Saturday Night Takeaway when it ends next year.

“We will be looking for a new main event for Saturday night for 2025. It’s sad to say goodbye to Takeaway, but the exciting thing is that we are looking for something new to talk about.”