Martin Flanagan: ITV faces uncertain advertising backdrop

ITV's host of shows includes the X Factor. Picture: Syco/Thames TV/PA Wire

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They usually say that the brash, marketing-spiel world of advertising is a sound early indicator of good or bad economic times.

That’s because when tougher times are sensed around the corner the first thing businesses cut back on is advertising, and when an upturn is viewed in prospect it is one of the first increases in business investment we see.

That’s why television broadcaster ITV’s warning of a slump in TV advertising amid recent “political and economic uncertainty” is a concern.