ITV has announced plans to cut costs by a further £40m next year as advertising revenue continues to slide.
In an trading update this morning ahead of the ITV annual general meeting, the broadcaster said group revenues in the first quarter stood at £425m – down 13.6 per cent on the same period last year.
First-quarter digital revenue remained stable at £9m, and ITV said its website attracted 11.1 million unique users in April, up 79 per cent year on year.
ITV said it was adding an extra £40m to the cost savings target already announced for 2010, meaning the group will now need to cut £215m next year.
Michael Grade, who is stepping down as ITV executive chairman later this year, said: “We continue to press for rapid regulatory progress and are encouraged by the growing support for public funding to sustain regional news, ahead of the publication of the final Digital Britain report next month.”
At least 430 jobs have been lost in ITV regional news since the company announced last year that it was reorganising the news map, with the merger of 17 regions into nine larger areas.
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