ITV PLC (LSE:ITV) investors switched off after the broadcaster warned that TV advertising revenue for the year is likely to be lower than the market expects.
The broadcaster's shares fell over 6% to 68.58p as it reported a 6% rise in nine month underlying revenue to £2.5bn, down from the 8% growth in the first half of the year.
ITV Studios drove growth, with total advertising revenues from the media and entertainment business down 2%.
For the full year, management said Studios revenue will exceed 2019 levels but expects TV ad revenue to be down 1% to 1.5%, despite ITV sharing broadcast rights for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in December.
This will represent high single digit revenue growth compared to 2019, the company said, but it said there "remains a high degree of economic uncertainty".
Analysts at UBS said the ad guidance implied growth in the fourth quarter between flat and down 2%, while the City consensus was for around 2% growth.
Sophie Lund-Yates, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The Media & Entertainment division is facing ongoing declines in advertising revenue. Traditional broadcast advertising spots are simply never going to regain their popularity.
"Primetime hits like I’m a Celebrity will boost things in the short-term, but these highly popular shows are too few and far between for this to be enough. That puts the onus on the group’s grand digital plans. Again, video on demand and streaming progress has been admirable and no one can dispute ITV’s willingness to grasp the nettle. The question is whether ITV’s digital schemes can build enough scale and popularity, fast enough. In today’s fiercely competitive landscape, there simply may not be enough spare eyeballs to go around.”
On the same day a 'teaser' video was released of new 'I'm a Celeb' contestant Matt Hancock screeching as he crawled through bugs in his debut "bushtucker trial".