Focus report: advertiser-funded television

Getting a major brand on board to help fund TV shows is nothing new, but it is now an increasingly well worn route to making a budget work. Pippa Considine reports

With funding partners now needed on shows of all genres, shapes and sizes, getting a brand on board is one way to top up, or completely pay for a project. Advertiser-funding isn’t new – the term ‘soaps’ comes from detergent brand sponsorship in the mid twentieth century – but there are signs that it’s on the rise.

Marks & Spencer is one of the big ad-funded success stories of recent years. Its ITV production Cooking with the Stars, made with South Shore, has already aired five seasons. M&S has claimed that for every pound spent on the show, £5 went back into the business. As well as raising awareness and changing perceptions, single items on the show have flown off the shelves. Mango sales surged by over 300%, quails’ eggs by 126% while consideration of M&S for fresh ingredients increased from 15% to 56%.

ITV research suggests that ad funded content can show a 30% uplift over spot airtime. In 2023, ITV set up ad-funded production unit BE Studio, headed up by Bhavit Chandrani. In that year, the broadcaster featured three ad-funded shows. Across 2024 and 2025 it will have aired 30.

The superindies have been on the case for a while, with execs dedicated to exploring branded content opportunities across their labels.

Banijay indie DSP has been looking at ad-funding potential with IP from formats that were originated at now-defunct group label RDF. “What branding could do for us, if we get it right, is to fill in the gap in funding,” says DSP managing director Donna Clark. “That’s the dream.”

In 2024, DSP worked with Channel 4 Digital to produce a series of four 12-minute films for energy company E.ON to run on YouTube, based on RDF’s Secret Life of 5 Year Olds.

Coming up in 2026, DSP has brand investment for ITV Daytime show Dickinson’s Real Deal, a format which had been put on pause while looking for extra funding. The answer came in the form of a direct approach to the producer from trading platform Vintage Cash Cow which saw the synergy. “They get good value and that plugs the gap in the budget, so we now have the same budget as we did before,” says Clark.