It’s all steady at ITV after it rides the ups and downs

Advertising is like a faulty shower, ITV chairman Archie Norman once said, and the Downton Abbey broadcaster today showed again that is the case.

Revenues from advertising shot up 6 per cent in the first three months of the year while turnover at programme-making arm ITV Studios fell 5 per cent. A year ago, ad revenue fell and programme-making was up.

The overall effect was steady as group first-quarter turnover climbed 1 per cent to £571 million at the broadcaster whose recent hits include drama Broadchurch and comedy Vicious.

Chief executive Adam Crozier said ITV Studios should still enjoy double-digit growth over the year as productions will ramp up later in the year. But advertising will be down in the next three months because of tough comparisons with last year’s Euro 2012 football championships.

“Looking across the whole year, we again expect to deliver good growth in all parts of the business,” said Crozier, who has bought a string of small production companies to reduce dependence on advertising.