Diversity Acceleration Plan Report 2024
At ITV, we strive to create and showcase content by, with and for everyone, connecting and reflecting modern audiences. Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) strategy champions diversity through our mainstream content, creates equitable opportunities for people at ITV and across the industry, and ensures we each play our part in creating an inclusive culture. We ensure that accessibility and disability equity are built into everything we do at ITV, including our programmes, processes and places.
This Report demonstrates the progress we’ve made towards these goals and reflects on the success of our Diversity Commissioning Spend, which has allowed us to champion diverse talent both on and off-screen.
Mainstream Content: We’re telling a broader range of stories, reaching new audiences and championing diverse talent on and off-screen, including via our Diversity Commissioning Spend.
Creating Opportunities: Our Diversity Development Fund has enabled us to support a thriving pipeline of ideas and creatives, resulting in several commissions and empowering new writers/directors.
Inclusive Culture: Our enhanced training and development offer, and growing colleague networks, means ITV staff are more empowered than ever to play their part in fostering a culture where everyone feels valued.
Accessibility & Disability Equity: By exploring innovative techniques and tailored innovations, we’ve made our productions and on-screen content more accessible for staff and audiences.
Diversity Commissioning Spend
In this report, we are pleased to confirm both the return of our Diversity Commissioning Spend (DCS) with a further £80 million ringfenced over 2025-27, and that we are doubling our investment in our Diversity Development Fund (DDF) to £1 million over the same period.
The first round of our Diversity Commissioning Spend (2022-24) has driven success in commissioning from more diverse-led companies, reaching new audiences and championing on and off-screen talent - driving racial and disability equity across the TV industry. Its data-driven approach means ITV has focused on addressing the areas of greatest underrepresentation – People of Colour (POC) and Deaf, Disabled or Neurodivergent (DDN) people. If you’d like more details about the DCS or the DDF and if you might be able to qualify for funding, check out more information on our Diversity Commissioning Spend page.
Highlights from the 2022-2024 round of the Diversity Commissioning Spend include:
Invested £83.3 million across 43 commissions including new shows, formats, and returning favourites, with £64.1 million invested across 13 diverse-led production companies
Across 2022-24, doubled our average spend with diverse-led production companies (compared to 2021)
First-time commissions from diverse-led companies including Big Productions, Douglas Road Productions, Ranga Bee Productions, Postcard Productions and Gold Wala
Inspired real social change, including a surge in people looking to learn British Sign Language after John & Joe Bishop: Life After Deaf
Awards and nominations recognition, including from BAFTA, the Royal Television Society and the National Television Awards
From 2022-24, Diversity Commissioning Spend shows had greater diversity off-screen compared to other ITV shows – Deaf, Disabled & Neurodivergent off-screen contributions were 63% higher, and contributions from People Of Colour overall and in key creative roles were more than twice as high
Reached new diverse audiences: 9 in 10 shows delivered either a higher proportion of People Of Colour or Disabled viewers than other ITV shows and 4 in 10 a higher proportion of both.
What’s next?
In 2025, we will build on our success so far in creating content by, with and for everyone, which connects and reflects modern audiences. We’re proud of ITV’s industry-leading impact in these areas, but we’re not doing this alone. We will continue to collaborate closely with our fellow broadcasters and industry partners and ensure that our ongoing investment continues to drive change across our content and the wider industry.
We believe that diverse, authentic storytelling should also have broad appeal and we will continue to champion diversity throughout our mainstream programming. We’ll ensure that even more voices are heard both on and off-screen, across all our shows, and that we further grow a diverse talent pipeline for the industry. Across ITV and the industry, we’ll keep working to create more equitable opportunities for people from underrepresented groups. And, we’ll continue to ensure that everyone at ITV can be themselves, receive the support they need to thrive, and is empowered to foster an inclusive culture where everyone feels valued and respected.
We’re maintaining momentum in 2025 – there’s still a lot to do to drive change for our audiences, colleagues and industry, and we’re excited about what we can achieve next.
Find out more about our Strategy
For more information about anything in this report, please contact the ITV DEI team at inclusion@itv.com
You can read our previous reports here:
Diversity Acceleration Plan Report 2023
