It’s one of those funny days for ITV where there are ups and downs, the kind of day that has typified 2006 overall for the troubled (are we still allowed to call them that?) commercial channel.
After the huge ratings success of The X Factor 2006, Simon Cowell has secured a new, three-year contract to stay with the channel until the close of 2009. Not that TV Today would ever bandy around unconfirmed reports of salaries (ahem), but this deal is reported to be worth around £20 million, which would knock Jonathan Ross into second place as the highest paid TV personality.
This is on the same day that ITV also announces that its earnings from ad revenues has fallen by 12.5% overall, although earnings from the company’s digital channels have been better than expected.
The question to pose here, at a time when ITV is still a bit wobbly (but the prognosis is positive), should it be splashing £20 million on talent when revenues are still down?
Probably – The X Factor’s individual ad revenues must be pretty damn healthy, and unless something goes horribly awry, another three series of The X Factor will guarantee a nice audience share spike come the end of each year. In that respect, Cowell is worth every penny.
But one wonders why ITV never receives flack from the press for paying huge sums to secure an individual’s services, when the BBC gets into hot water every time it does what it has to keep hold of its on-screen personnel. I don’t buy that it’s a public service versus commercial sector kind of argument. Ultimately as viewers and consumers of BBC and ITV product, we all pay somewhere along the line, whether as a licence fee or in the prices we pay on the high street for the advertised products.
I’m not going to get into the debate of whether Cowell or Jonathan Ross are worth what they get paid, but it’s time the accusatory finger started pointing in all directions when the wallets are opened.
