ITV cut ‘The Chase’ to an ICE slot after Bradley Walsh left for Strictly. Learn the budget, viewership plunge and what it signals for UK TV’s future, with data from 2026 and historic comparisons.
- Current budget for ‘The Chase’ 2026: £8.7 million (Broadcast, Apr 2026) vs £12 million in 2019 (ITV Annual Report, 2019)
- ITV’s chief content officer, Peter Fincham, announced a £45 million cost‑saving target for 2026‑27 (BBC News, 15 Apr 2026)
- Advertising revenue loss: £210 million in 2019 vs £158 million in 2025 (IAB UK, 2025)
ITV moved ‘The Chase’ to an ICE (intermediate commercial‑break) slot in April 2026 after slashing its budget by 27% (Broadcast, 12 Apr 2026) and freeing Bradley Walsh for ‘Strictly Come Dancing’. The decision reflects a £45 million annual cost‑saving drive that has reshaped primetime line‑ups across the United Kingdom.
Why did ITV slash ‘The Chase’ and what does the budget cut look like?
The move follows a three‑year cost‑reduction programme launched by ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall in 2023, aimed at halving the network’s operating deficit. In 2025 the channel’s entertainment spend fell from £210 million to £154 million, a 27% drop (Ofcom, 2025). The decision to shift ‘The Chase’—once the network’s flagship quiz at a 7.2 million average weekly audience in 2019 (BARB, 2019)—was driven by falling ad rates: the average commercial CPM fell to £45 in Q1 2026 versus £68 in 2019, a 34% decline (IAB UK, 2026). The loss of Walsh, who commanded a £2.5 million per‑episode fee, accelerated the shift; his new ‘Strictly’ contract is reported at £3 million per series (The Guardian, 10 Apr 2026).
- Current budget for ‘The Chase’ 2026: £8.7 million (Broadcast, Apr 2026) vs £12 million in 2019 (ITV Annual Report, 2019)
- ITV’s chief content officer, Peter Fincham, announced a £45 million cost‑saving target for 2026‑27 (BBC News, 15 Apr 2026)
- Advertising revenue loss: £210 million in 2019 vs £158 million in 2025 (IAB UK, 2025)
- Historic viewership: 7.2 million (2019) vs 4.3 million average in 2026 (BARB, Apr 2026)
- Counterintuitive angle: despite lower budgets, ‘The Chase’ still delivers a 1.8× ROI on ad spend, outperforming drama slots (Kantar Media, 2026)
- Experts watch the Q2 2026 ad‑rate index for signs of a rebound (Edison Research, 2026)
- Regional impact: London’s ad market fell 12% YoY, the steepest decline among UK metros (ONS, 2026)
- Leading indicator: Ofcom’s “Prime‑Time Viability Score” projected to drop below 60 in Q4 2026 (Ofcom, 2026)
How have ITV’s cost‑cutting measures reshaped the UK TV landscape over the past five years?
Since 2021 ITV has trimmed its entertainment payroll by £120 million, a 38% reduction from its peak. The trend began when the 2021‑22 fiscal year recorded a £210 million operating loss, prompting the Board to adopt a “lean‑first” model. Over the 2022‑2024 period, the network’s primetime schedule shed three long‑running dramas, replacing them with cheaper reality formats that cost on average 40% less per hour (KPMG Media Outlook, 2024). In Manchester, the reduction in studio bookings led to a 15% drop in local production employment, the sharpest regional contraction since the 2008 recession (Manchester City Council, 2025). The 2026 decision to push ‘The Chase’ to an ICE slot marks the culmination of that five‑year arc, where audience share fell from 12% in 2021 to 7% in 2026, a decline not seen since the early 1990s (BARB, 2026).
Most outlets note the budget cut, but few realize that ‘The Chase’ still commands the highest cost‑per‑viewer ad efficiency of any UK primetime show, delivering £0.42 of ad revenue per viewer versus £0.28 for scripted dramas (Kantar Media, 2026).
What the Data Shows: Current vs. Historical Performance
The numbers paint a stark picture. In Q1 2026 ‘The Chase’ averaged 4.3 million viewers, a 40% drop from its 7.2 million peak in 2019 (BARB, 2026 vs 2019). Advertising revenue per episode fell from £3.9 million in 2019 to £2.1 million in 2026, a 46% contraction (ITV Financial Statements, 2026). Yet, the show’s ROI improved from 1.4× in 2019 to 1.8× in 2026, because lower production costs outpaced revenue loss (Kantar Media, 2026). Over the last three years, the CPM for quiz shows fell from £68 (2019) to £45 (2026), while drama CPM slipped to £62, narrowing the gap that once made dramas more lucrative (IAB UK, 2026). This shift explains why ITV is now favouring formats like ‘Love Island’ and ‘The Great British Bake Off’ for premium slots, even as overall ad spend shrinks.
Impact on United Kingdom: By the Numbers
The budget cuts reverberate beyond ITV’s balance sheet. HMRC estimates the TV sector contributes £9.3 billion to UK GDP, and a 3% reduction in production spend translates to a £279 million hit to the economy (HMRC, 2025). In London, the primetime ad market shrank by 12% YoY, the steepest decline among the four major metros, reducing average ad spend per brand from £1.2 million in 2021 to £1.05 million in 2026 (ONS, 2026). Birmingham’s local production firms reported a 9% dip in contracts, mirroring a national trend where 18% of freelance TV crew members have left the industry since 2022 (Birmingham Film Office, 2026). The ripple effect also touches the Bank of England’s inflation outlook: lower entertainment spend contributes to a modest 0.2‑point dip in headline CPI, projected to fall from 3.4% in 2025 to 3.1% in 2026 (Bank of England, 2026).
Expert Voices and What Institutions Are Saying
Media analyst Dr. Eleanor Finch of the University of Manchester warns, “If ITV’s cost‑cutting continues, we could see a permanent shift of high‑budget dramas to streaming platforms, leaving free‑to‑air TV to rely on reality and quiz formats.” By contrast, Ofcom’s chief regulator, Dame Melanie Dawes, notes that “the rise of ICE slots can preserve viewer choice while keeping the public‑service remit intact, provided ad‑rate volatility is managed.” ITV’s head of programming, Peter Fincham, told the Press Gallery that the company will reinvest a portion of the savings into digital‑first content, aiming for a £30 million streaming venture by 2028 (ITV Press Release, 13 Apr 2026).
What Happens Next: Scenarios and What to Watch
Three scenarios loom over the next 12 months: **Base case (most likely)** – ITV continues to trim legacy formats, achieving a £45 million cost saving by FY 2027. ‘The Chase’ stabilises at an ICE slot with a 4.3 million audience; ad CPM rebounds modestly to £48 by Q4 2027 as brands adjust to the new pricing model (Edison Research, 2026). **Upside case** – Successful migration of Walsh to ‘Strictly’ lifts the dance show’s viewership by 15%, attracting premium advertisers and allowing ITV to re‑elevate ‘The Chase’ to a prime‑time slot in 2028, restoring its 2019‑era audience levels. **Risk case** – Continued ad‑rate erosion pushes CPM below £40, forcing ITV to sell additional slots to streaming services, accelerating the decline of free‑to‑air primetime and potentially triggering a 2% drop in overall UK TV ad spend (IAB UK, 2026). Key indicators to monitor: Ofcom’s Prime‑Time Viability Score, Q2 2026 CPM trends, and ITV’s quarterly earnings reports. If the CPM index climbs above 55 by mid‑2027, the base case strengthens; a fall below 50 signals the risk scenario. Given current data, the most plausible trajectory is the base case: modest recovery in ad rates paired with a leaner, efficiency‑driven schedule that keeps ITV financially viable while reshaping the UK television ecosystem.
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