Oh dear. September looks like it's going to be a stinker if you work in commercial television. With ITV's interim results out on Wednesday it's not surprising that ITV is being singled out as the expected biggest loser with drops in excess of 20% year-on-year, what should be more worrying is what's happening across the TV market as a whole.
Last year's Rugby World Cup meant that ITV had a gleaming September and the lack of any programming to match that will understandably mean that this year the month is not going to look so rosy. But what's the excuse for Channel 4, Five, Sky and IDS? And what does this mean for the rest of the year? Visibility is too poor for there to be any certainty.
It seems that the only business doing well at the moment is Boston Consulting Group, which has been drafted in to oversee cost-cutting exercises at both ITV and Sky. Wouldn't it be depressing if C4, Five and IDS also followed suit.
