ITV is the Winner As Big Weekend Seals Revival

When England's players run out for the World Cup final, they will not be the only unlikely comeback story in Paris this weekend. Not long ago ITV was close to being written off as a serious player in televised sport, but through a combination of good luck and good judgment its position at the center of one of the most exciting sporting weekends in years will confirm its renaissance.

Media buyers estimate that Saturday night's final and Sunday's climactic Brazil grand prix, with Lewis Hamilton's title hopes still in the balance, will result in ITV's biggest-grossing advertising weekend of the year. They will bring in at least £16m in ad revenues and go some way to justifying the faith of the chairman, Michael Grade, in live sport as a key weapon in his plan to turn around the broadcaster.

For Mark Sharman, the shrewd director of news and sport who rejoined the network in 2005, it is further evidence that his strategy of focusing on sports, presenters and personalities that play to ITV's mass-market strengths is paying off.

"After 41 years in the business, it seems I've suddenly become lucky," he said. "That's the nature of sports rights. You take a punt, put everything in place, the team puts in the hard work week in, week out and sometimes it pays off. The beauty of sport lies in its unpredictability."

He has been fortunate not just that England's aging team has undergone a remarkable revival, bringing a peak audience of 12.4 million to Saturday night's semi-final victory over France, or that Hamilton has emerged from nowhere to re-energize formula one, bringing previously unheard-of peak audiences of almost 8 million to some races, but in the return of Grade to lead ITV.

In the wake of the ITV Digital debacle, his predecessor, Charles Allen, seemed unsure about the value of big-money sports rights but Grade, a veteran of audacious rights bids down the years, has firmly backed Sharman in terms of scheduling and hard cash. "There's definitely a new confidence around ITV and ITV Sport in the past year," he said.

Meanwhile, the BBC was facing up to a below-inflation license fee settlement that meant tough choices in deciding which rights to bid for, and Sky was forced to pay more for its live Premier League rights by the emergence of Setanta.

Those factors helped secure the network the rights to live England internationals and the FA Cup from next year, with ITV paying £275m towards a £425m joint four-year deal with Setanta. But there have also been inspired gambles like the decision to bring back boxing to Saturday nights in the shape of Amir Khan.

The shifting nature of television viewership has also played a part, with live sport acknowledged as one of the guaranteed audience pullers in a fragmenting market. Crucially for ITV it also hits the young, male, upmarket demographic that advertisers are finding it ever harder to reach in a crowded media marketplace.

Sharman has also been able to use the digital channel ITV4 to broaden the network's rights portfolio and give it a more extensive palette to paint with when it comes to rights renegotiations. The Tour de France, British Touring Cars and live Uefa Cup football have all been used to bring an audience to the fledgling channel, which has also been used for supporting magazine and highlights programs around its flagship events such as the Champions League.

Over the whole 2006-07 Champions League season, average ITV viewing figures were their highest since the 2002-03 season, with an average of 5.9 million viewers for all ITV1 coverage. Here too, Sharman has had a slice of luck with the impressive performances of English teams over the past three years and Liverpool's two final appearances.

But ITV's renaissance here has also been driven by a realization among sporting bodies that, Premier League football aside, a terrestrial outlet is essential to appeal beyond a sport's core audience.

"It's what I call the GB hockey or the curling effect. There is a general audience out there that gets excited when we do well. Whether it's the rugby, Lewis Hamilton or the Champions League, everybody loves a winner," said Sharman.

Sharman expects the next rights battle to be a defensive one, as the BBC mounts a serious bid to snatch the live Champions League rights. The current contract, shared with Sky, runs until May 2009 and negotiations are likely to begin in earnest later this year.

Sharman's portfolio

Football

2006, 2010 and 2014 World Cups (jointly with BBC)

Euro 2008 (jointly with BBC)

FA Cup and England home matches - from 2008-09 (jointly with Setanta)

Champions League (shared with Sky)

Uefa Cup exclusive coverage from quarter-finals onwards

Football League highlights

Carling Cup highlights

Motorsport

Formula one - exclusive UK broadcaster

GP2 - highlights

World Rally Championship - highlights

British Touring Cars - live

British Superbikes - live

Isle of Man TT

Other

Rugby World Cup 2007

The Boat Race

Tour de France

Boxing - Amir Khan

Darts - Grand Slam of Darts