ITV has announced plans to cut 120 jobs due to “political and economic uncertainty”, particularly concerns over the possible impact of Brexit.

UK broadcasters are facing the worst year for TV advertising since 2009, with total revenues set to decline by up to 2%.



The announcement on Monday comes three months after ITV’s chief executive, Adam Crozier, said the broadcaster would look to make £25m in cost savings next year following the Brexit vote on 23 June.



ITV intends to make the cuts across the business, but does not plan to reduce its annual programming budget of more than £1bn. The company has 3,000 staff in the UK, out of 6,000 globally, with US-based employees forming its next largest workforce.



“At a time of political and economic uncertainty in our key markets, it’s important that we are in the strongest possible position to continue to invest in our strategy, and to meet any challenges and opportunities ahead, as we continue to grow a successful business,” an ITV spokesman said.

Fears about the impact of Brexit and a rapid softening of the UK advertising market are the paramount reasons for the job cuts.

ITV is dependent on the performance of the UK market, which accounted for 85% of the near-£3bn the broadcaster made last year.

Crozier has spent hundreds of millions of pounds attempting to reduce the company’s reliance on the UK, primarily by building a large TV production operation in the US.

But ITV’s historical dependence on advertising meant that last year, TV ads and sponsorship accounted for more than half, about £1.7bn, of revenues.

“We have taken costs out across ITV in a managed and sensible way over the past six years and we must continue to keep a tight control on spending to ensure that we are operating as efficiently and effectively as possible, while maximising our ability to invest in the high-quality programming that drives ITV’s success,” the ITV spokesman said.



The company has estimated that in the first nine months of 2016, ad revenue would be down 1% year on year.

Prior to the EU referendum, the ad market had been expected to grow by more than 7%, after a 7.4% increase in 2015.



Media agencies, which book advertising on behalf of clients, have said the TV advertising market has become considerably worse in the past five or so weeks amid concerns about a “hard Brexit”.

Last month, ITV’s share price tumbled after Crozier and the finance director, Ian Griffiths, cashed in £2m of shares, as some investors worried that this could be a sign its stock market price may be close to peaking.

Last month it emerged that Daily Mail and General Trust, the owner of the Daily Mail, has cut more than 400 jobs over the past year. Fewer than half came from DMG Media, the division that includes the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and freesheet Metro, as newspaper publishers continue to face a tough advertising market.

This month, the BBC said it would make redundant more than 300 programme makers as part of a move to spin off its £400m TV production operation, which makes shows including EastEnders and Strictly Come Dancing.

