26 ITV plc Annual Report and Accounts 2023 ITV plc Annual Report and Accounts 2023 27 S OPERATING AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE REVIEW CONTINUED T R A T E G I ITV’s M&E strategy recognises and Supercharge • Attracted a larger audience – total C R capitalises on the change in viewer streaming hours were up 26% to 1,505 E P 1 O behaviour and the evolving needs of million (2022: 1,192 million ) Streaming R advertisers. It is based on two strategic • Increased viewing by our target audience T MEDIA & pillars: Supercharge Streaming and Growing and enhancing our – streaming hours amongst light viewers Optimise Broadcast. Our focus is to retain who are harder to reach, increased by 65%, our existing viewers and advertisers while streaming service ITVX and streaming hours among the 25-54 age also attracting new ones. ITV offers viewers We successfully launched ITVX in December group demographic increased by 47% the choice to watch whenever and however 2022 (which combined our previous offerings • Increased engagement and content they wish, with a strong reputation for ITV Hub, ITV Hub+ and BritBox UK) to discovery – streaming hours per viewer, brilliant content suited to British audiences. transform our streaming service from a catch was up 27% and 90% of users that ENTERTAINMENT ITV offers advertisers a unique combination up service to a content destination and to watched an ITVX exclusive, went on to of mass simultaneous reach, targeted deliver the inventory to fulfil the growing watch other content on the platform advertising at scale, and commercial and demand for our digital advertising. Although creative partnerships in a brand-safe and the main focus of ITVX is the free ad-funded • Increased brand awareness – growing 2 reliably measured environment. offering, there is also a subscription tier, from around 60% at launch to over 90% ITVX Premium. in 2023 Our strategic pillars have KPIs and 2026 targets which reflect the key drivers of ITVX’s strong performance in its first year is This increased reach and frequency of growth and value. See the Strategy section evident by the step change in our KPIs and viewers provide advertisers with valuable within the CEO’s Report for more details on other viewing metrics as we attract more addressable audiences at scale in a these KPIs, why they are important and how users who are engaging for longer across our brand-safe and measured environment. Our they will enable us to grow digital revenues to streaming platforms year-on-year. In 2023, robust data and analytics capabilities enable at least £750 million by 2026, and drive the service: us to offer high-value, data-driven inventory revenues from linear TV advertising, and to generate higher digital revenues, commercial and creative partnerships, • Attracted more users – monthly active which was up 19% year-on-year. and sponsorship. users (MAUs) increased by 19% to 12.5 million year-on-year (2022: 10.5 million) To deliver and maintain this strong performance we focus our ITVX investment on enhancing the depth and breadth of content, continuous improvements in the product and user experience, and expanding the distribution and marketing of ITVX. Content: There are over 25,000 hours of content available (including over 7,000 hours exclusively on the premium ad-free tier), including on-demand content from our five linear TV channels, FAST channels, exclusive ITVX content (such as anime, true crime and US box sets), ITVX Kids, and over 300 films creating one of the UK’s largest free film libraries. Programmes which contributed significantly to the year-on-year increase in streaming hours include: Love Island, Rugby World Cup, The Only Way Is Essex and Big Brother. We are constantly testing, learning and evolving our content proposition and Media & Entertainment (M&E) is the largest commercial windowing strategy between ITVX and our linear TV channels to optimise viewing and broadcaster and streamer in the UK, delivering unrivalled monetisation. We are implementing many of the insights gained during 2023 and utilising audience scale and reach. It includes Streaming and Broadcast, THE RUGBY WORLD CUP aired the data we have, particularly around how exclusively on ITV and ITVX in 2023. we window exclusives, such as dramas, distributing content through ITVX, our free advertiser-funded The semi-final between England and on our platforms. South Africa was ITV1’s biggest peak streaming service, and our free-to-air linear TV channels. audience of the year. ITV NEWS ITV has been News is an important driver of viewing and providing trusted and impartial our ITV News proposition is now fully news for more than 60 years. embedded within ITVX, with News streaming hours up 20% year-on-year and we have launched exclusive 90-second ITV News bulletins, a new News category page on the service and regional short and long-form catch up. MR BATES VS THE POST OFFICE is a drama series based on true events. It was produced by ITV Studios and was ITV’s biggest new drama 1. The full year 2022 comparative for total streaming hours has been restated from 1,139 million due to it including some in over a decade. estimates of total streaming viewing from third-party data providers. This has since been updated to accurately reflect the actual outcome 2. ITV / YouGov – base: 4,659 Nat Rep UK Adults – Dec 2023