Comcast is only bidding for ITV\u2019s declining broadcast network<\/a> and not its more secure and lucrative studio arm. ITV Studios produces 3,500 hours of television for almost every UK broadcaster, making shows such as Ludwig, Line of Duty and The Voice for the BBC, Fool Me Once for Netflix, Suspicious Minds for Disney+, and Love Island and The Chase for ITV.<\/p>\n\u201cIt seems weird for a large US media company to be buying a declining UK broadcaster, without the studios,\u201d says Tom Harrington at media research company Enders Analysis.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt may be defensive \u2013 there are deals in the US, like Paramount bidding for Warner Brothers \u2013 that would make Comcast less significant. ITV is cheap, and they could blend Sky and ITV together to drive subscriptions in the way Channel 5 does for Paramount+, but there\u2019s a risk in bidding for ITV in that the regulators may not approve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Broadcast regulator Ofcom and monopoly watchdog the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will have to clear the deal, and the arcane world of TV advertising trading is the rock on which this ship may founder.<\/p>\n
The TV airtime market \u2013 ad agencies buying slots to show the John Lewis Christmas ad, for instance \u2013 is known as NAR (national advertising revenue). It\u2019s a distinct market, separated from the rest of the ad market due to TV\u2019s once huge audience reach.<\/p>\n
As a result, in 2000, TV\u2019s \u00a34bn in ad revenue dominated the UK total ad market, worth \u00a312bn. Viewers or readers of Jilly Cooper\u2019s ITV licence bidding war bonkbuster Rivals know how tempting this wealth once was. By 2024, TV was worth \u00a35.27m, compared with the total ad market of \u00a342.6bn.<\/p>\n
In February 2025, Ofcom acknowledged this. \u201cAs a result of changing viewing habits and changes in the proposition on different platforms, advertisers are no longer thinking about TV advertising in isolation and no stakeholder we\u00a0spoke to has a dedicated \u2018TV budget,\u2019\u201d its report on the TV advertising sector stated. \u201cInstead, advertisers currently think about AV campaigns more broadly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The UK\u2019s commercial TV companies have banded together to sell their airtime through sales houses. Each has one core broadcaster around which it builds a portfolio of channels \u2013 ITV Media accounts for 40% of NAR, Sky Media takes in 30% and Channel 4 Sales around 25%. If Comcast and ITV merge, that company would control 70% of the TV ad market \u2013 easily a problem for the CMA unless it widens the market and dispenses with the idea of NAR.<\/p>\n
Advertisers and ad agencies have concerns. \u201cITV is going to argue that it\u2019s a minnow in the wider market and that\u2019s sort of true,\u201d one TV buying director says. \u201cBut there is still no real alternative for a mainstream brand to buy an ad that will probably be seen by almost everyone. If you\u2019re negotiating with ITV and the price isn\u2019t right, you can\u2019t say, right, I\u2019ll spend everything on YouTube. Nobody watches YouTube ads, no matter how large the platform is, and ITV knows that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA) has used its sharp teeth in the past to ensure a competitive market \u2013 including preventing Murdoch from merging the Times and the Sunday Times when he acquired the latter in 1981, a ban finally lifted in 2022. ISBA is cautious about its position this time round.<\/p>\n
\u201cA merger of these two businesses would clearly have major implications for advertisers,\u201d Phil Smith, ISBA\u2019s director-general, says. \u201cThe impact on the advertising ecosystem will need to be fully understood. ISBA will continue to ensure its members interests are fully represented.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sir Peter Bazalgette, ITV chairman from 2016 to 2022 and a shareholder in the company, expressed impatience at any opposition. He wants the concept of NAR to vanish, with ITV considered in terms of the entire UK ad market. \u201cIf some dinosaurs in the ad industry want to keep ITV off in a smaller TV ad pond, then they don\u2019t realise we are already competing directly with the likes of Google and Meta,\u201d he told the Observer. \u201cThese two have 60% of the UK ad market. Fortunately, there are people at the CMA who are aware.\u201d<\/p>\n
Analysts aren\u2019t sure. \u201cThe issue is whether a combination of Sky and ITV is an acceptable increase in market share and power,\u201d says Mathew Horsman, an independent media consultant. \u201cIf the market is all video, then Sky and ITV together don\u2019t look like a problem. If the broadcast TV market is still the relevant measure, then the combination looks unfair.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harrington is also concerned at a merger diluting public service broadcasting. \u201cMy worry is that on streaming services people just watch less news, and unless news is on the main screen it gets sidelined,\u201d he says. \u201cPublic service ensures Brits get programmes made in the UK, that the regions are heard, and that the industry is supported. Sky has no public service obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Advertisers agree. \u201cWhat hasn\u2019t changed, and we know this from our work measuring effectiveness, is how important advertising on ITV is compared to streamers or internet platforms,\u201d explains Paul Bainsfair, director general of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, which lobbies for ad agencies. \u201cFor example, the coverage of the new John Lewis Christmas ad. It will be seen by most people more quickly on ITV than any other channel. If a takeover reduced that specialness, that would be a concern.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bazalgette rejects this: \u201cI want to see public service broadcasting survive and continue to deliver programming for us, by us,\u201d he explains. \u201cThe current ITV licence extends to 2034 and I can\u2019t see that changing. But we have reached the point where the cost of obligations \u2013 like commissioning a certain amount of programming from independent producers and delivering regional news \u2013 is more expensive than the cost of the licence. Things will have to change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Photograph by ITV Studios\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The bid by Sky TV\u2019s owner, Comcast, to buy ITV marks more than a proposed corporate takeover. It…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[156,7386,1073,111,139,69,8861,437],"class_list":{"0":"post-126408","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-itv","10":"tag-media","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-sky","15":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}