Queen Elizabeth’s death cost ITV £16,000,000 in extra news coverage and scrapped Spitting Image episodes

Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022 (Picture: Ben Stansall – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

ITV has confirmed £16 million of costs related to the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

The monarch died aged 96 in September 2022, and the broadcaster’s Media & Entertainment (M&E) branch has addressed the financial impact, which included additional news coverage and the decision to scrap unseen episode of satirical show Spitting Image.

In ITV’s 2022 full year end results, it said: ‘Following the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, the M&E business incurred significant additional costs related to news coverage over and above normal day‑to‑day costs.

‘The business has also written off the remaining Spitting Image episodes featuring the Queen, as they could not be effectively edited and so it is highly unlikely they will ever be screened.

‘In total the business has incurred £16 million of costs in relation to this which is considered exceptional.’

Meanwhile, it’s noted that costs of the coverage of the Queen’s death, including her funeral, ‘do not include any financial impact of the advertising blackout in force during this period.’

The Queen and her beloved corgis previously featured on Spitting Image but new episodes were scrapped (Picture: ITV/REX)

However, ITV added that ‘content costs were slightly lower than originally guided due to changes in the schedule’ down to both the death of Queen Elizabeth, and the broadcaster having ‘fewer England Internationals ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup’.

In an overall statement on the report, Carolyn McCall, ITV Chief Executive, said: ‘2022 was a year of significant strategic progress and ITV delivered a robust set of financial results. The successful execution and delivery of ITVX in Q4 was a major digital milestone.

‘The platform has received a very positive reception from viewers and advertisers alike, with its newly expanded range of original content and a superior user experience engaging more viewers, and lighter viewers, and encouraging them to spend more time with ITV.

‘The user experience and personalisation elements will continue to improve throughout 2023.

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‘Our total external revenue growth of 8% was driven by double-digit increases from our growth drivers, ITV Studios and our digital businesses in M&E.

‘Our mass reach linear advertising business has also performed well and ITV total advertising revenue (TAR) was down only 1%, delivering the second highest TAR in ITV’s history.’

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