The British production giant behind The Traitors has taken a hit to revenues as the TV industry cuts back spending on new shows.
All3Media, which also makes Gogglebox, Midsomer Murders and Race Across the World, saw revenues fall 10pc to £896m in 2024, blaming “softer demand in a challenging market”.
It comes as an advertising slowdown and sharp rise in production costs have forced British broadcasters to slash their programme budgets.
Channel 4’s content spend last year was close to the lowest in its four-decade history, while ITV has ramped up its use of repeats amid plans to spend less on new shows.
The BBC has warned of an “unprecedented” funding challenge for British TV and said spending on new programming will fall by £150m this year.
While streaming giants such as Netflix, Disney and Apple continue to spend heavily, their rate of growth has also slowed in recent years.
Revenues generated by UK producers dropped by £400m in 2023, according to the latest industry figures.
The squeeze on budgets has taken its toll on companies such as All3Media, which owns more than 40 production houses and sells its shows to broadcasters and streaming platforms worldwide. All3Media saw its pre-tax losses balloon to £114m last year, from £28m in 2023.
The company said this was driven primarily by one-off impairments to some of its labels in the UK and Germany, as well as hefty interest costs linked to its debt-fuelled £1.2bn takeover by RedBird IMI last year.
Stripping out the impact of these charges, the company posted a profit of £1.1m for the year.
The figures come as RedBird IMI is locked in discussions with ITV over a potential deal to combine All3Media with the broadcaster’s thriving production division.
RedBird IMI, which is a joint venture between US private equity firm RedBird Capital and Abu Dhabi fund IMI, is among a number of suitors reported to be exploring a deal, with others including French production powerhouse Banijay circling.
However, its interest has drawn scrutiny from politicians, resulting RedBird IMI’s botched attempt to buy The Telegraph. The bid was blocked by the Government over concerns about state influence from the UAE. Under a revised deal, RedBird Capital is poised to become the newspaper’s controlling shareholder, with the UAE holding a stake of up to 15pc.
Despite slowing demand, All3Media pointed to a number of hits in 2024. The Traitors is the group’s best-selling brand, with 31 versions of the show commissioned around the world.
Other successful new shows included Boarders for the BBC, Channel 4’s To Catch a Copper and the award-winning Disney documentary Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story.
All3Media said its pipeline of productions included a prequel and film of Call The Midwife, as well as a new series and two Christmas specials. The company has also announced the cast and writers for four upcoming films about The Beatles, directed by Sam Mendes.
All3Media is still facing a strain on demand but is understood to be forecasting higher revenues and underlying profits for 2025.
It came as Disney separately posted a rise in revenue and profits in its third quarter, boosted by strong demand for its theme parks and a $346m (£260m) profit for streaming platform Disney+, which has 128m subscribers worldwide.
This helped to offset a decline in Disney’s traditional TV business and a $21m loss in its film division, as Pixar film Elio and the latest Marvel blockbuster Thunderbolts* failed to pay off at the box office.
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