STV Group, in a trading update, has reported that performance remains “in line with market expectations, despite ongoing weakness in the linear TV advertising and commissioning markets”.The Scottish broadcaster says it continues to trade well, winning commissions despite constrained budgets and delivering for its customers in a continued inflationary environment. The forward orderbook sits at £92 million at the end of October, with the division having delivered revenue of £24 million and won commissions with a value of £15 million since end July.Following confirmation of multiple commissions in Q3, including a second season of popular drama, Criminal Record, for Apple TV+, STV Studios labels have secured further orders in Q4 to date. These include two original new formats for label Crackit TV – Crime Scene Cleaners (10 x 60”) for Channel 4 and Hunting Britain’s Bedroom Predators (3 x 90”) for Channel 5. Both will be delivered in 2025.Q3 TAR (before commission) was up 5 per cent, stronger than guided. Q4 TAR year on year performance is impacted by strong comparators that include the Rugby World Cup and so is expected to be down c.10 per cent. Total Advertising Revenue (before commission) is expected to be up around 2-3 per cent for the full year.Following the success of Brookside and Disney drama titles, STV Player continues to acquire key content and is now the only place where UK viewers can stream Irish police soap drama Red Rock, from start to finish for free. Since its launch in mid-September, Red Rock has delivered 2 million hours of viewing and is currently the best performing title on STV Player this year, after the soaps.There continues to be a strong focus on cost control across the business. STV’s 3-year cost savings plan is on course to deliver at least £1.5 million of savings in 2024 and hit the target £5 million annual run rate by the end of 2026, as previously guided.Rufus Radcliffe, STV Chief Executive, commented: “I joined STV on November 1st and have been very impressed by its strong foundations and prospects for future growth. I’ve been struck by the creativity, dynamism and commitment of the team and I look forward to working closely with them to build on recent successes. There’s no doubt that we continue to operate against a challenging advertising and commissioning backdrop, and we will continue to take action to mitigate against that where possible. The acquisition strategy in STV Studios is helping us to deliver in a tough market, with new commissions secured for original formats since our interim results.“We expect the full year TAR to be up 2-3 per cent, boosted by the Euros earlier this year. The winter schedule brings the return of entertainment juggernaut, I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, and The 1% Club. And looking further ahead, we have a strong drama offering at the start of 2025 on STV and STV Player,” concluded Radcliffe.
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