{"id":583464,"date":"2026-05-14T11:37:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T11:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/583464\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T11:37:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T11:37:08","slug":"sky-and-itv-insiders-tell-itv-news-takeover-deal-is-weeks-away-and-will-protect-future-of-brands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/583464\/","title":{"rendered":"Sky and ITV insiders tell ITV News takeover deal is ‘weeks away’ and will protect future of brands"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sky and ITV<\/a> are closing in on a deal that would pave the way for the TV and telecoms operator to take over the UK\u2019s most-watched free-to-air commercial broadcaster, with sources suggesting that an agreement could be reached within weeks.<\/p>\n

The proposal would see ITV split in two, with the television channels and its ITVX streaming service sold to Sky, while ITV shareholders retain ownership of the studios business, which makes programmes for ITV and other media outlets, including the big US streamers like Disney.<\/p>\n

I have spoken to multiple sources familiar with the negotiations, on both sides of the transaction, who said there is growing confidence that key elements of the deal are falling into place and that both Sky and ITV are keen to agree terms – although they cautioned that no agreement has yet been finalised and discussions remain ongoing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s gone on much longer than we had ever thought likely, but there\u2019s no problem,\u201d one source told me. \u201cWithin a month would be my guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proposed sale was first announced in November last year, but six months on, a detailed set of heads of terms has yet to be signed.<\/p>\n

In ITV\u2019s trading update on Thursday morning, shareholders were told the company remains in \u201cactive discussions\u201d with Sky, but no explanation was given for why the process is taking so long.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a straightforward takeover,\u201d another source said. \u201cWhat we are trying to do is separate a business that has been intertwined for 70 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to a Share Purchase Agreement – setting out what Sky is buying, for how much and on what terms – both sides must negotiate a Content Supply Agreement covering programmes such as Love Island, I\u2019m a Celebrity! and The Voice, which ITV Studios would continue to produce for the ITV channel, along with Coronation Street and Emmerdale.<\/p>\n

The final agreement will also cover the sections of Sky\u2019s production business set to move to ITV Studios as part of the transaction – Sky owns Love Productions, which makes The Great British Bake Off for Channel 4 – as well as the terms under which ITV\u2019s brand and archive will be used.<\/p>\n

Notionally, the deal is between Sky and ITV, but Comcast, the US media group that owns Sky, will have the final say. The contracts are currently being scrutinised by its legal team in the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cDecisions are being taken at Comcast HQ level,\u201d a source told me. \u201c[The deal] is with a lot of lawyers.\u201d<\/p>\n

In one sense, this deal looks like a rounding error for Comcast.<\/p>\n

The company is a US giant in the truest sense, with annual group sales of more than \u00a390 billion last year, from broadband, cable television, mobile telephony, Universal Studios and its theme parks.<\/p>\n

ITV\u2019s Media & Entertainment division, which is being purchased, generated just under \u00a32 billion.<\/p>\n

You can understand Comcast\u2019s caution. It is widely seen as having significantly overpaid when it bought Sky in 2018 – around a quarter of the \u00a331 billion purchase price has since been written off. As things stand, the purchase price of \u00a31.6 billion for ITV\u2019s broadcast business is unchanged, although my understanding is that up to \u00a3200 million of that sum will be made contingent on ITV\u2019s advertising income holding up over the next few years.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no guarantee it will. Live sport and big-budget drama are where the viewers – and therefore the advertising money – are. This summer\u2019s World Cup is likely to boost ITV\u2019s performance in the short term, but the longer-term trend is cause for concern.<\/p>\n

Streaming apps available in the UK. Credit: iStock<\/p>\n

Since the pandemic, when there was a surge in households signing up to Netflix, Apple TV and other US streamers, the decline in traditional television audiences has accelerated for all the UK\u2019s public service broadcasters – the BBC, Channel 4 and Channel 5, as well as ITV.<\/p>\n

\u201cITV isn\u2019t going to fall off a cliff tomorrow, but look at the market – the company is just about holding on to advertising, and the direction of travel is clear,\u201d a former Ofcom executive said.<\/p>\n

Sky, too, is struggling to hold off the US streamers. Its advertising revenue has fallen; so too has the number of its television subscribers.<\/p>\n

Sky has millions of mobile and broadband customers in the UK, but the subscription television business – increasingly delivered over the internet rather than satellite – is under pressure.<\/p>\n

Nowadays, Sky’s adverts positions itself as a service through which to access Netflix, Disney and HBO apps as much as a place to watch its own content.<\/p>\n

Dominance in sport is Sky\u2019s big commercial advantage.<\/p>\n

The company recently struck a deal for the rights to broadcast Formula 1 in the UK until 2034.<\/p>\n

Premier League football is the jewel in the crown. Over the years, Sky has repeatedly won the battle of the chequebooks – fighting off challenges from BT and others.<\/p>\n

But the streamers have even deeper pockets and are developing a taste for sport. The next auction process begins next year. There may be trouble ahead.<\/p>\n

The logic of the Sky\/ITV deal is that by combining Sky\u2019s paid platforms with the much wider reach of ITV\u2019s free-to-air service, the enlarged group could attract more subscribers and arrest the decline in advertising revenue.<\/p>\n

There are also significant savings to be made by cutting duplicate roles and sharing technology when the businesses merge. \u201cSynergies\u201d will likely mean some jobs are lost.<\/p>\n

By joining forces, Sky and ITV will argue they stand a better chance of competing in a world dominated by much larger, better-resourced American streamers, as well as platforms such as YouTube and TikTok.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The new business would] be a good-sized player in a world of giants,\u201d one source said.<\/p>\n

When the proposed tie-up was first announced last November, Peer Bazalgette, a former Chairman of ITV, said he believed the consolidation of British broadcasters was inevitable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink about our own viewing habits,\u201d he told ITV News.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow often do we watch the public service broadcasters? But they matter, they deliver incredibly important public service news. We need that in the mad world of the internet and the AI world we are in now.”<\/p>\n

Even if a deal is agreed, significant hurdles remain.<\/p>\n

The Competition and Markets Authority and Ofcom would both need to approve it, while the final decision would rest with the Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy.<\/p>\n

\u201cITV and Sky\u2019s opening pitch is that together they account for around 10% of digital advertising spend, not 70% of TV advertising,\u201d someone close to the negotiations said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to argue otherwise – Google and Meta is where the ad money has moved; linear television is slowly dying.\u201d<\/p>\n

They added: \u201cAlthough there are bound to be objections from Channel 4 and Channel 5.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sky\u2019s purchase of ITV\u2019s 40% stake in ITN is also potentially difficult – partly because of the large and stubborn deficit in ITN\u2019s final salary pension scheme, a liability no one wants, but mainly because ITN produces news for Channel 4 and Channel 5 as well as ITV.<\/p>\n

Expect scrutiny and debate over whether Comcast and Sky would end up with too much influence over multiple news providers in the UK.<\/p>\n

Sky is prepared to commit to honouring the terms of ITV\u2019s Public Service Broadcasting licence, which requires it to provide national and regional news, current affairs, and a specific quota of UK-made programmes. These obligations run until the end of 2034.<\/p>\n

Subscribe free to our weekly newsletter <\/a>for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning. <\/p>\n

However, Comcast is not currently planning to make a funding commitment similar to the one it made to support Sky News when it bought Sky in 2018, which guaranteed its budget, indexed to inflation for 10 years.<\/p>\n

It proved to be an expensive promise, but protected the service through rounds of cuts and belt-tightening elsewhere.<\/p>\n

One Ofcom insider suggested that funding could become an issue. \u201cThis deal should be an opportunity to secure increased investment in news. Ofcom will want to see it not just maintained, but strengthened – at both Sky and ITV.\u201d<\/p>\n

That may be difficult.<\/p>\n

Sky currently spends around \u00a3140 million a year on Sky News, with ITV spending a similar amount on national and regional news.<\/p>\n

\u201cNet of advertising income, Sky News loses more than \u00a3100 million a year – that\u2019s a vast sum of money,\u201d one insider said.<\/p>\n

\u201cComcast wants to spend less on news, not more. And the government can\u2019t push too hard – who else is bidding for ITV? From ITV\u2019s perspective, this deal is a godsend. The world is too unpredictable to offer any guarantees on spending.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reporting History sees journalists join News At Ten anchor Tom Bradby to revisit their remarkable on-the-day reports of the defining events of the modern age. Listen to the episodes below…<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sky and ITV are closing in on a deal that would pave the way for the TV and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":583465,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-583464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=583464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/583465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=583464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=583464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=583464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}