Five back into black as cost cutting impacts

by Tristan O'Carroll, Media Week 05-Mar-08, 13:15

LONDON - Commercial broadcaster Five swung back into profit last year, helped by additional ad revenues earned by its two digital channels and what it termed "stringent" cost-cutting at its core TV channel.

Parent company RTL Group’s 2007 financial report shows that Five posted pre-tax profits of €10m (£7.7m) last year, compared with a €1m loss (£770,000) in 2006. EBITA at core channel Five was up to €35m (£27m), while Five’s two digital channels, Five Life and Five US, also increased EBITA, by €3m (£2.3m).

RTL Group said that Five’s share of UK TV ad spend grew last year, up from 8.8% in 2006, to a record-high of 9.3% last year, with 0.8 percentage points of the latter figure derived from the digital channels.

However, ratings for its core channel continue to suffer, with its adult share of viewing falling to 5.3% from 5.9% in 2006. Its three TV channels combined captured a 6.2% share of adult TV viewing, up from 6% in 2006.