{"id":662116,"date":"2026-03-17T13:42:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T13:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/662116\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T13:42:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T13:42:12","slug":"profits-slashed-at-criminal-record-blue-lights-maker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/662116\/","title":{"rendered":"Profits Slashed at ‘Criminal Record’ & ‘Blue Lights’ Maker"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIt has been a tough year for Criminal Record<\/a> and Blue Lights<\/a> maker STV<\/a>, which saw profits slashed and made layoffs across the board. <\/p>\n

\n\tSTV, which runs linear channels, a streamer and a production arm, STV Studios<\/a>, saw operating profits tumble by 70% for the full year to December 31, as it posted an overall loss of \u00a34M ($5.3M) against profit of \u00a313.1M in 2024.<\/p>\n

\n\tAdjusted operating profit was down 44% to \u00a311.6M, adjusted operating margin nearly halved to 6.6% and overall revenue was down 6% to \u00a3176.9M. Net debt, meanwhile, rose by 17% to \u00a345.3M. <\/p>\n

\n\tHaving issued a negative trading update last summer, STV today said results were in line with expectations and it is continuing to deliver a savings programme totaling \u00a38M by the end of this year.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThroughout a challenging 2025 for both of our key markets, we acted decisively to adapt the business to rapidly changing conditions, and have delivered results in line with latest guidance as well as making clear progress across our strategic pillars,\u201d said CEO Rufus Radcliffe. \u201cWe remain focused on improving financial performance in 2026 supported by tight cost discipline despite continued limited market visibility.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tRevenue at the production arm was stable at \u00a383.2M while adjusted operating profit was down to \u00a33.9M. STV has previously spoken of a desire to double STV Studios\u2019 profits by the end of 2026 to \u00a3140M but that now feels a long way off. Last summer, STV said <\/a>it had been hit by \u201csignificant commissioning market deterioration\u201d and unscripted projects in advanced development had not been greenlit, while some commissions were delayed to 2026. Today, it said it had a forward production order book of \u00a333M as of December 2025, \u00a37M down on August 2025. Upcoming shows include Channel 4 and Canal+\u2019s Army of Shadows, a second season of Apple\u2019s Criminal Record and the latest run of hit BBC police show Blue Lights.<\/p>\n

\n\tSTV unveiled a \u00a35M cost savings program in March 2024 and a further \u00a33M was identified six months ago predomiantly via layoffs \u201cacross the organisation,\u201d according to today\u2019s results. Layoffs of around 60 staffers, totaling roughly 10%, have previously been announced including around 30 in news, although this ended up at 25 after a restructure. Restructuring costs, being redundancy payments of \u00a31.7m, have been recognized as adjusting items in 2025 for STV.<\/p>\n

\n\tRadcliffe said 2026 offers \u201creasons for optimism,\u201d pointing to the soccer world cup and a \u201ctransforming media landscape\u201d that will \u201ccontinue to offer opportunities for STV.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It has been a tough year for Criminal Record and Blue Lights maker STV, which saw profits slashed…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":662117,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[30],"tags":[280162,36834,13656,171,280163,280164,173,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-662116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-blue-lights","tag-criminal-record","tag-earnings","tag-entertainment","tag-stv","tag-stv-studios","tag-tv","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116244810813175860","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=662116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/662117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=662116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=662116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}