That’s entertainment — at least, that’s how it is in the world of listed broadcasters. The programming can be knockout and the audiences come flooding in, but unless the advertisers come, too, then companies can have a problem. In the case of ITV, with advertising numbers on the slide in large part thanks to Brexit, it’s difficult to see how it can easily turn resolve the issue when it seems to be beyond its control.
ITV is Britain’s biggest commercial broadcaster and, though it was created in its present form in 2004 via the merger of Carlton and Granada, its history goes back to 1955 and the launch of the first television channel that aimed to turn a profit. It operates a string of