Queen Elizabeth II’s death cost ITV £16 million due to increased coverage & scrapped Spitting Image episodes

ITV has confirmed that they racked up losses of £16 million related to the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The losses are attributed to scrapping episodes of a TV show, additional coverage and more.

Her Majesty died in September 2022, ending her 70 year reign as Queen. Now, the broadcaster’s Media & Entertainment (M&E) branch has addressed the financial impact that the Queen’s death had on the broadcaster.

The decision to scrap unseen episodes of satirical show Spitting Image had a big financial impact on ITV, who have commented on the news regarding the losses they racked up in the wake of the Queen’s death.

In ITV’s 2022 full year end results, they 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.” The broadcaster 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.’

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.