ITV's programme budget cut by £20m

ITV is to cut another £20m from its programming budget as part of an extension of the broadcaster's existing cost savings programme.

Executive director Michael Grade's plan for a £1bn programming budget had already been cut down to £750m in the wake of the economic downturn. A projected 16% plunge in advertising revenue during the first half of this year has necessitated a further round of cuts, the broadcaster announced this morning.

"ITV is committing to a further £40m of cost savings across the business from 2010," the company announced, with chief operating officer John Cresswell later confirming that £20m would be cut from programming and the remainder from elsewhere in the business.

In the first quarter, ITV saw revenues across its broadcasting and global content businesses slump by 12% and 3% respectively compared to the same period last year. Online revenues were flat at £9m. Overall, ITV had revenue of £425m in the first three months of the year, compared to £492m in the first three months of 2008.

"The television advertising market remains weak," said Grade. "However ITV continues to outperform the market, reflecting the continued strength of our on-screen performance, particularly in peak time. In addition, we are holding our content revenues in tough domestic and international markets and we are attracting record users online."