ITV Advertising in the UK: ITV1, ITVX and Regions
ITV is the biggest commercial audience in UK television, and for most national campaigns ITV1 is where the reach comes from. You buy it on impacts and cost per thousand (CPT) through ITV’s sales team or an agency, then add the digital channels for cheaper frequency and ITVX for streamed impressions. The skill is in the deal and the break selection, not in whether to be on ITV at all.
ITV1: the reach engine, and what it costs
ITV1 still delivers audiences no other commercial channel can match in a single spot. A peak break in a big entertainment show or a live football match puts a brand in front of more people in 30 seconds than a week of spots on a smaller channel. That is why ITV1 carries a premium, and why the CPT you pay depends so heavily on who you are trying to reach.
TheHub market price data, as published on our ITV1 CPT index, puts the average ITV1 market CPT for Adults at £14.32 for January to August 2026, up from £11.97 in 2025 (+19.6%). ABC1 Adults averaged £35.18 (+13.4%), Housewives with children £245.03 (+27.4%) and Men 16-34 £636.70 (+4.5%). These are average market prices; what an advertiser actually pays is usually less, because deals, volume and flexibility all bring the price down.
Two things jump out of those numbers. First, the narrower the audience, the more you pay per thousand, because you are buying the whole audience of a spot and only valuing a slice of it. Second, ITV1 inflation in 2026 has been sharp, so a plan costed on last year’s rates will under-deliver. Our ITV1 audience costs page breaks out every trading audience if you need the detail.
Event programming moves prices in ways a flat rate card never shows. During the World Cup, TheHub data shows the Men 16-34 CPT on ITV1 fell about 37% year on year in June (£674 to £426) and July (£725 to £455), because live football delivered a flood of young male impacts. If young men are your audience, a tournament is a buying opportunity rather than something to avoid.
How ITV1 airtime is traded
ITV1 is sold on impacts against a trading audience, not by the spot. You agree a CPT (or a deal against station average price) and a volume of impacts, and ITV places spots to deliver them. The main levers are:
- Audience choice. Buying on Adults and planning to ABC1s is often cheaper than buying on ABC1s directly. Pick the trading audience that best fits the brief, not the one that sounds most precise.
- Pre-emptible versus fixed spots. Pre-emptible spots are cheaper but can be moved out if someone pays more. Fixing a spot in a specific break, or buying first-in-break, costs a premium. Pay it only where position really matters.
- Spot length. A 30″ spot is the base (factor 1.00). A 10″ costs roughly half that and a 60″ roughly double. Factors vary by sales house, so check them on every deal.
- Daypart mix. Peak is expensive for good reason. Daytime and late night often deliver the same audience for less if the campaign doesn’t need big simultaneous reach.
For a wider view of how ITV prices sit against the rest of the market, see ITV advertising costs in the UK.
ITV2, ITV3, ITV4 and the digital channels
ITV’s digital channels are usually bought alongside ITV1 as part of the same ITV deal. They each have a clear audience character: ITV2 skews young, ITV3 older and drama-led, ITV4 male and sport-led. Check the current channel line-up before you plan, because the portfolio has been reshaped over the years.
The digital channels do a different job from ITV1. Ratings per spot are smaller, so they build reach slowly, but they are good at adding frequency against a defined audience at a lower cost. A young-skewing campaign that can’t afford much ITV1 peak can get a lot of work done on ITV2. Where plans go wrong is when digital channel impacts are counted as if they were ITV1 impacts. They count as impacts all the same, but an impact in a busy daytime break on a small channel is not worth the same as one in the middle of a Saturday night show.
ITV regions
ITV1 is a network of regional licences, so airtime can be bought in individual regions or groups of regions as well as nationally. That makes ITV1 the main route for regional TV tests, local retailers and brands whose distribution isn’t national yet. Costs vary a great deal by region. Our ITV1 regional CPT page shows the Adults CPT by region for 2026.
| ITV route | How it is bought | Measured by | What it is good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| ITV1 national | Impacts at an agreed CPT or share deal | BARB | Fast mass reach, launches, big moments |
| ITV1 regional | Impacts by region or region group | BARB | Test markets, regional distribution, local offers |
| ITV digital channels | Usually inside the ITV deal | BARB | Cheaper frequency against defined audiences |
| ITVX | Impressions at a CPM | Ad server delivery and completion | Lighter TV viewers, targeting, frequency control |
Regional buying has its own quirks: smaller regions deliver fewer impacts, so the schedule can look lumpy, and the same spot in a big region and a small one can carry very different prices. For the full picture across broadcasters, see regional TV advertising.
ITVX advertising for brands
ITVX is ITV’s streaming service, and its ad inventory is bought on impressions rather than impacts. Each impression is one ad served to one device, so you can set frequency caps, target by audience data or geography, and know exactly how many ads ran. That is the main difference from linear TV, where you buy a share of whoever happens to be watching.
ITVX earns its place when it has a clear job in the plan. The usual ones are:
- reaching lighter TV viewers, often younger, who don’t see enough linear ITV;
- adding frequency around a linear burst without buying more expensive peak spots;
- targeting a region, postcode area or data segment that linear can’t isolate;
- giving smaller advertisers a way into ITV content at a lower entry point.
ITV runs its own self-serve and programmatic platform, Planet V, through which ITVX inventory can be bought. Access and product details change, so check the current terms with ITV or with us before you build a plan around it. How ITVX sits against other streaming routes is covered in our guide to BVOD advertising.
ITVX BVOD advertising costs
ITVX is priced on CPM: the cost per thousand impressions. We don’t publish a headline ITVX CPM, because the number on its own tells you very little. The same CPM can be good value or poor value depending on what sits behind it:
- Targeting. Each layer of audience or geographic targeting normally adds to the price. A narrow target can make the CPM look high while the cost per relevant viewer is fine.
- Content and position. Premium shows and live events carry higher prices than run-of-network inventory.
- Season and demand. Streaming inventory gets tight at the same times as linear, notably in the run-up to Christmas.
- Frequency caps. A tight cap spreads delivery across more people, which is usually what you want, but it can slow delivery on a narrow target.
The comparison that matters is cost per reached person in the target audience, not CPM against CPT. A linear impact and a streamed impression are not the same unit, and a proposal that lines them up side by side as if they were is flattering one of them.
ITVX and ITV campaign reporting
Linear ITV and ITVX are reported in different ways, and a good post-campaign report keeps them apart before bringing them together.
Linear ITV: BARB
Linear delivery is measured by BARB. The post-campaign analysis should show impacts delivered against impacts booked, TVRs by audience, reach and frequency, daypart and channel split, and the proportion of spots in premium positions. If a deal promised a certain share of peak or centre-break spots, check that it happened. Under-delivery on ITV1 is usually made good with extra airtime, but only if someone asks.
ITVX: impressions and completion
ITVX reporting comes from ad server data: impressions delivered, completion rate, frequency, and delivery by device, region or segment. Completion rates on streamed TV are high because the ads are hard to skip, so a high completion rate is expected rather than impressive. The more useful questions are whether the cap held, whether delivery landed in the targeted audience and region, and whether impressions were spread evenly or bunched at the end of the flight.
For response campaigns, set up call tracking, web analytics and search monitoring before launch so linear spot times and ITVX delivery can be matched to response. For brand campaigns, look at whether ITVX added reach over the linear schedule or duplicated people who had already seen plenty of spots. That answer tells you how to split the next budget.
Where ITV fits against the other broadcasters
Most national plans start with ITV1 because of its reach, then use other broadcasters to reach the audiences ITV is weaker on or to bring the average cost down. Channel 4 is the usual counterpart for younger and upmarket audiences. We track how ITV pricing is moving month to month in our TV market update, and that matters more on ITV than anywhere else because its price sets the tone for the whole market.
A cheap spot in the wrong break is still wasted money, and on ITV the gap between a well-negotiated deal and an accepted first offer can be large. Send us the plan or proposal and we’ll tell you what we’d change.
Questions
How much does it cost to advertise on ITV?
ITV1 is sold on CPT, so the cost depends on the audience and the volume of impacts. TheHub market data puts the average ITV1 Adults CPT at £14.32 for January to August 2026, but that is an average market price and most advertisers pay less once a deal is in place. ITVX is priced separately on CPM.
Can you advertise on ITV in just one region?
Yes. ITV1 airtime can be bought by region or group of regions, which is how most regional tests and local advertisers use ITV. Prices vary by region, so check the regional CPTs before you choose where to test.
What is the difference between ITV and ITVX advertising?
ITV1 and the digital channels are linear TV, bought on impacts and measured by BARB. ITVX is ITV’s streaming service, bought on impressions at a CPM, with frequency caps and targeting. Most larger campaigns use both.
What is Planet V?
Planet V is ITV’s self-serve and programmatic platform for buying ITVX advertising. Access and features change, so check the current terms before planning around it.
How is an ITV campaign measured?
Linear ITV is measured by BARB: impacts, TVRs, reach and frequency. ITVX is measured by ad server delivery: impressions, completion and frequency. Response should be tracked separately through calls, web visits and search.