ITV says it handled Clarkson row ‘well’ but warns of falling ad sales

theguardian.com:

ITV has insisted its reputation is intact despite the controversy over Jeremy Clarkson, as the broadcaster said it expected a steep drop in advertising sales this year as the economy weakens.

Clarkson, a former Top Gear presenter, presents ITV’s long-running gameshow Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, but he was forced to apologise over an article in the Sun in December in which he said he was dreaming of the day the Duchess of Sussex was made to parade naked in public while people threw excrement at her.

ITV’s chief executive, Carolyn McCall, said: “Neither Who Wants to Be a Millionaire or Jeremy Clarkson have been cancelled.” The broadcaster said on Wednesday that it had “no further commissioning commitments” beyond one series which has been filmed.

“We’ve handled it quite well,” McCall said, when asked about ITV’s response to the furore. “I’ve made it clear there’s no place for those comments on ITV. They weren’t on ITV – they were from the Sun. So no, I don’t think there’s a wash over on to the brand.”

The comments came as ITV warned that it expects a steep drop in advertising sales during 2023 as the economy weakens. The worsening advertising outlook comes as consumers struggle with inflation and rising interest rates, with many big companies expected to adjust their marketing spending accordingly.

The company said the outlook for advertising was “challenging given the current macroeconomic environment”. Ad revenues are expected to be down by about 11% in the first quarter of 2023 compared with 2022 and 1% below 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns. For April this year revenues will be down between 10 and 15%, it said.

Shares fell 3% to 86p, making ITV one of the biggest fallers on the FTSE 250 on Thursday morning.