Justin Judd admits company's ad revenue unlikely to recover from current recession as marketing pound moves from mass to targeted advertising
Granada Broadband controller of online Justin Judd has claimed that the company's ad revenue is unlikely to recover from the current recession, writes Steve Aston

Making a presentation at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, Judd said: 'Granada's core business is in downturn and people are waiting to see whether it is structural or cyclical - I suspect it will be structural.'

Until now Granada, which alongside Carlton Communications is a majority shareholder in ITV, has insisted that it will recover from the current advertising recession, its worst for the past 10 years.

Pointing to business models such as the one adopted by WPP chief executive Martin Sorrell, who is increasingly moving the business away from a reliance on advertising to marketing communications, Judd said advertisers were looking at targeted audiences. 'The marketing pound is on the move to targeted from mass advertising,' he said.

Judd claimed that broadcasters needed to look for new revenue streams -such as marketer funded programming and sympathetic integration of sponsorship into content - in addition to their reliance on straight advertising. 'The funding model in free to air broadcasting needs to change,' he added.

However, Judd pointed to a pitfall in that over-regulation could hamper developments in the industry. 'At the moment the regulatory waters are muddy,' he said.