TIDMSTVG
RNS Number : 1605E
STV Group PLC
04 November 2020
4 November 2020
STV Group plc Trading Update
Excellent viewing performance continues; advertising recovery
ahead of expectations; short-term outlook still uncertain due to
Covid-19
-- Advertising recovery ahead of expectations, with Q3 total
advertising revenue -4% and October -2%;
-- STV-controlled advertising outperforming, with regional
advertising up 8% and VOD advertising up 10% in Q3;
-- Continued excellent viewing performance on TV and online in
the 10 months to the end of October 2020, with TV viewing up 13%
and online viewing up 82%;
-- Good commissioning momentum in Studios, with revenue guidance maintained for a strong 2021
Advertising market
-- Advertising trends have improved materially over Q3 and the
start of Q4, albeit the Covid-impacted outlook remains
uncertain.
-- Q3 total advertising revenue (TAR) was -4% year on year, with
July -7%, August +1% and September -5%. October improved further to
-2%, with revenues seeing a meaningful step up in the important
autumn months, even taking account of tough comparators with Rugby
World Cup 2019. Total advertising revenue January to October stands
at -13%.
-- Within TAR, STV-controlled advertising has continued to
outperform, with regional advertising +8% in Q3 and showing year on
year growth every month since July. Between April and October,
STV's Growth Fund attracted 71 new Scottish advertisers to STV.
Year to date January to October regional advertising is -6%.
-- VOD advertising was +10% in Q3 and returned to growth in
September and October. Year to date January to October VOD
advertising is +12%.
Record viewing growth on TV and online continues
-- Highest TV audience volume growth ever, +13% from January to
October, with growth continuing into the autumn (+16% in September,
+10% in October).
-- Viewing share gain is higher than any other TV channel in
Scotland in 2020 (19.2% all time viewing share year to date).
-- Still most popular peaktime channel in Scotland (21.5% share
year to date), with peak audiences growing by 15% in September and
12% in October.
-- Ratings success driven by the return of the soaps to their
full episode count, a strong drama slate including The Sister and
Des (STV's biggest new drama launch in 18 years) and STV News at
Six which has cemented its position as Scotland's best watched news
programme with audiences +30% year to date and averaging 554k
viewers and a 36% viewing share in October, its best performing
month ever.
-- In Digital, STV Player continues to be the fastest growing
broadcaster video on demand service in the UK, with online viewing
up 82% from January to October (VOD viewing +87%, live simulcast
viewing +71%).
-- In September, Des became the best performing drama on the
Player ever with 1.4m streams, and was the best watched drama for
16-34s this year across all channels. Nearly half of 16-34 viewing
for Des in Scotland was via the STV Player.
-- Successful digital content strategy sees STV Player-exclusive
programming accounting for 33% of all digital viewing January to
October, up from 15% at the start of 2020 and 6% in 2019, as well
as 5 of the 10 most popular programmes on the Player so far this
year.
Studios
-- STV Studios has maintained its creative and commercial
momentum with 14 commissions so far in 2020, its highest ever
number, including 5 recommissions.
-- The UK and Scottish governments have confirmed that TV
production can continue during the English lockdown and through all
levels of the new Scottish strategic framework for Covid-19. All
STV programmes are currently still in production under the
industry's Covid safety protocols which are working well.
-- Our previous guidance for Studios is maintained: the
production hiatus earlier in the year has impacted 2020 revenue but
the profit impact will be limited. For 2021, Studios has GBP15-20m
of commissions already secured as the benefits of our strengthened
creative pipeline start to come through.
Simon Pitts, STV Chief Executive, said:
"2020 has underscored both the loyalty of our viewers and the
resilience of our business. We've seen record growth in audiences
across the whole of 2020 so far, not just during lockdown, with TV
viewing up 13% and online viewing up 82%.
Despite the ongoing challenges around Covid-19, I'm encouraged
that the advertising market has recovered strongly across the
summer and autumn, demonstrating the enduring power of television
and our ability to come through further uncertainty with
confidence. In particular, STV-controlled Scottish advertising and
digital advertising have returned to year on year growth during the
autumn, fuelled by our Growth Fund and the excellent performance of
our streaming service STV Player.
We remain confident in our prospects for growth, and look
forward to finishing the year strongly on screen with November
traditionally our biggest month of the year thanks to the return of
I'm a Celebrity; while in STV Studios our 14 new commissions so far
this year means that 2021 promises to be our most successful year
yet."
This announcement constitutes inside information for the
purposes of article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No
596/2014.
ENDS
Enquiries:
STV Group plc:
Kirstin Stevenson, Head of Communications, Tel: 07803 970106
Camarco:
Geoffrey Pelham-Lane, Partner, Tel: 020 3757 4985
Ben Woodford, Partner, Tel: 020 3781 8333
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