England-France RWC Semifinal Could Double ITV's Ad Revenue

ITV Expected To See Sizeable Ad Revenue Boost With England-France RWC Match

ITV is "expected to more than double” its ad revenue from the England-France Rugby World Cup (RWC) semifinal game in Paris on Saturday after the teams’ quarterfinal victories, according to Mark Sweney of the Manchester GUARDIAN.  The match “is forecast to deliver an audience in excess of 10 million for ITV – with possibly 30% more viewers watching in pubs.”  A media agency estimates ITV’s ad revenues for the match at US$5.09M, compared with around $2.04M “if the semifinal had featured the expected clash between New Zealand and Australia,” which lost to France and England, respectively, in the quarterfinals. ITV Managing Sales Dir Gary Digby said that he “will be entering last-minute negotiations with brands that have not so far invested" in the RWC. Digby said, “The audience would have been as much as 80% smaller if England wasn’t in the semifinal.” But some media buyers “argued that it may be difficult for some brands to free up the six-figure sums required” to buy ad time. Also, ITV cannot book clients from the same category in the same ad break.  Brands that have already invested in the RWC include Guinness, Magners, Vauxhall and Peugeot (Manchester GUARDIAN, 10/8).