…while Euro 96 fuels extra 10m ad spend as companies shift to TV
Euro 96 has attracted 10m of extra advertising revenue to ITV as companies switch budgets from below the line to TV during the championships.
ITV has attracted 148m in revenue this month, according to CIA Medianetwork, of which it believes 7m is new money. Another 2.5m to 3m has been raised via Vauxhall’s broadcast sponsorship of the event.
“This money hasn’t come out of any other part of the year,” says Simon Cox, broadcast director of CIA Medianetwork. “It’s been dragged above the line and on to the screen by the championships, which is good news for ITV.”
A June revenue figure of 148m would represent a nine per cent jump on June 1995.
Cox believes it is worth an additional 1m to ITV for England to get through to the final of the tournament, as advertisers will take up options to pay premium rates for crucial games.
CIA estimates that first round England games will attract between 8 million to 13 million viewers, while England in a semi-final would reach 15 million to 16 million.
While a final containing England is expected to pull a 20 million-plus audience, it would be simulcast on ITV and BBC, and the BBC traditionally takes the lion’s share of simulcast sports viewing.
