ITV's Kelly Williams On Why UK TV's Growth Story Is Just Getting Started
ITV's path for growth includes addressability, SME opportunity and streaming
In this interview with Kelly Williams, MD Commercial at ITV, we discussed how the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster plans to continue growing following some very encouraging figures. It’s worth noting that ITV’s share price jumped 10% last week, as investors become increasingly optimistic about the company’s growth potential moving forward.
It’s worth noting TV in the UK went back to growth and the main question I have is how to continue that path and ensure everyone grows the market together. There’s strong optimism in the TV world – this is my opinion btw – and I think you’ll see TV be more proactive and confident about their products and perhaps shout a little louder. Additionally, I see this narrative far too often – that TV around the world is ‘effed,’ as if broadcasters are sitting on their arse and ignoring the challenges. Nothing could be further from the truth, and advertisers should be thrilled to hear that.
Universal Ads is a critical development for unlocking new revenue streams, particularly in the SME market (FELT brands), which represents a huge opportunity for TV companies. The goal mirrors what digital has already achieved – expanding the addressable TV market and attracting new advertisers, both small and large. Brett Aumuller from Sky noted that the addressable SME market for TV is worth £1.5bn. It will be interesting to see how much of that TV can capture.
For broadcasters, streaming continues to be the growth engine – ITV included. (This is a consistent theme across all broadcasters.) Kelly described it as "managing the transition," which feels like the right way to put it.
When I pushed Kelly to predict what the market will look like in 2026, he was very optimistic. While he wouldn’t give a figure, with the Six Nations and the largest World Cup ever on the horizon, ITV looks set for a strong 2026.
