ITV loses £1.2 billion off its value in wake of Ant McPartlin arrest

ITV’s value has allegedly plummeted in the aftermath of the Ant McPartlin drink-driving scandal, by a whopping £1.2 billion.

Share prices had reportedly gone down last year when Ant, 42, hit the headlines for entering rehab for drug addiction and the public break-up of his 11-year marriage to Lisa Armstrong.

According to media analyst Alex De Groote in the Sun, share prices have fallen significantly: ‘Since Ant’s problems were first reported, the ITV share price has fallen from just over £1.80 to £1.40.’

‘That makes the company’s value around £1.2 billion less — down from £7 billion to £5.8 billion,’ he revealed.

Despite all the focus currently on Saturday Night Takeaway, it must be remembered that Ant and Dec spearhead three big shows for the channel, which also include I’m A Celeb and Britain’s Got Talent.

This means that they’ve a hefty influence when it comes to audience share and are therefore responsible for a massive chunk of ITV’s advertising revenue.

He acknowledges it’s not all down to Ant’s behaviour alone but notes the knock-on effect of his headline-grabbing actions.

‘That will not be entirely down to him, but it’ll be an important factor. A peak-time advert of 30 seconds airing during Saturday Night Takeaway, Britain’s Got Talent or I’m A Celebrity would cost around £50,000.’

He noted that the presenting duo are actually linked to around £85 million worth of advertising so any negativity surrounding either of the famous duo would have an effect on who’d advertise during their shows and affect audience viewings stats, too.

The telly hosts have already lost out to the current SNT advertising deal they had with Suzuki, who announced they were ending their relationship with the show and the duo after this series.

Since Ant announced he was stepping away from TV and going back to rehab, it’s been revealed that Declan Donnelly, 42, will present Britain’s Got Talent on his own and will host the next two Saturday Night Takeaways without Ant.

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