British broadcaster ITV posts H1 loss

LONDON — ITV PLC, Britain’s biggest commercial broadcaster, posted a 70 million pound (euro82 millon) loss in first half net profit on Wednesday, after a decline in advertising revenue hurt the bottom line.

The loss in the six months to the end of June did narrow from the same period last year, when the company lost 1.5 billion pounds.

Revenue fell about 12 percent to 909 million pounds, from 1.03 billion pounds.

The broadcast also announced the sale of the online networking Web site, Friends United for 25 million pounds.

ITV put social networking Web site Friends Reunited up for sale in February, marking the end of a disastrous experiment with online social networking. It bought the site in 2005 in a cash and shares deal worth up to 175 million pounds.

Still undecided is a successor to executive chairman Michael Grade, who announced in April that he would step down by the end of the year, becoming non-executive chairman after a series of regulatory reviews are completed.

Grade, a former chairman of the British Broadcasting Corp., joined ITV in 2006 to head ITV’s struggle against a drop in audiences and advertising revenues amid growing competition from digital channels and the Internet.

The fate of the 17.9 percent stake held by rival broadcaster BSkyB in ITV remains undecided. Sky has already lost one appeal against the government’s decision to force it to reduce the stake, which it picked up in 2006 in a move widely perceived to be a blocking strategy against its pay-TV rival NTL Inc. — now called Virgin Media after a merger with Richard Branson’s Virgin Mobile.

In contrast to ITV’s struggles, Sky last week reported net profit of 259 million pounds for the year to June 30, compared to a 127 million pound loss last year. Revenue was up 8 percent at 5.36 billion pounds as more consumers turned to home entertainment in the recession — drawing the company closer to its target of 10 million subscribers by 2010.