ITV’s shareholders could be forgiven for thinking that they have seen this storyline before (Simon Duke writes). In 2009, when Britain last fell into recession, the broadcaster suffered a sharp drop in advertising income and was duly ejected from the FTSE 100. In March this year, marketing chiefs slashed spending and, by August, ITV again found itself demoted from Britain’s top index.
On the surface, the UK’s largest free-to-air broadcaster looks as vulnerable as it was a decade ago, despite costly attempts to be more resilient. Under Adam Crozier, its former chief executive, ITV bought independent production houses to strengthen its studios division, which makes programmes for both its own channels and rivals. In theory, this business should be much less prone to upheavals
