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Alamy<\/p>\nFaarea MasudBusiness reporter<\/p>\n
Alamy<\/p>\n
ITV has said it is in “preliminary” discussions to sell its broadcasting business to Sky for \u00a31.6bn, a move that could reshape the UK’s television landscape.<\/p>\n
The talks focus on ITV’s Media and Entertainment division, which includes its free-to-air TV channels as well as the ITV X streaming service.<\/p>\n
The discussions with Sky, which is owned by US-based Comcast, come as the television industry faces fierce competition from streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+.<\/p>\n
The deal would not include ITV’s production arm – ITV Studios – which makes popular programmes such as Love Island and I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, ITV forecast that its advertising revenue would be 9% lower in the last three months of 2025, with advertisers cautious ahead of expected tax rises in the Budget.<\/p>\n
Comcast, which owns Universal Studios, bought Rupert Murdoch’s Sky in 2018 and is a major player in the US media landscape. <\/p>\n
It owns NBCUniversal, which contains the NBC and CNBC channels, DreamWorks Animation and streaming service Peacock.<\/p>\n
Media analyst Ian Whittaker told the BBC’s Today programme that a combination of Sky and ITV would mean they had “70% plus” of the UK TV advertising market, which he said “in normal circumstances” would be rejected by regulators because of the dominance it would give them.<\/p>\n
But he added that with rising competition from the streaming services raising questions over the future of TV, a takeover could be seen as almost a rescue deal.<\/p>\n
Sir Peter Bazalgette, television executive and producer, who was chair of ITV until September 2022, and describes himself as a “longsuffering” ITV shareholder, told the BBC that the deal did make sense, given the pressure from streamers.<\/p>\n
ITVs share price rose 18% on Friday following the news of the possible deal.<\/p>\n
Sir Peter said when it came to the question of whether a Sky-ITV link up would run up against competition issues, he said the regulator needs to “redefine” what the advertising market is”.<\/p>\n
He said Google and Facebook owner Meta should be treated as the rivals, not the traditional TV advertising market.<\/p>\n
He added that the UK TV sector had been “very slow” in adapting.<\/p>\n
“We could have had a strategy for public service media and its survival five or ten years ago” – but added that ITV could like “trigger” that strategy now.<\/p>\n
Mr Whittaker said streaming was where the growth was for broadcasters – even though with established streamers “the penetration rates have started to level off in the past couple of years” in the UK. <\/p>\n
He added that competition was also now coming from YouTube TV, which showed live events such as sports and news.<\/p>\n