After months of negotiations, ITV and Sky are poised to sign a deal where Sky takes over the free-to-air broadcaster and ITV Studios acquires Sky-owned production company Love Productions.
- Insiders expect formal announcement in weeks
- Sky to offload maker of The Great British Bake Off to ITV Studios
Details of an imminent deal between ITV and Sky have been leaked to Reuters. According to the news agency, an announcement is expected within two weeks, although timings could slip. Talks were said to have taken a positive direction last week, with lawyers now sorting out the final details.
Providing there’s no last minute twists, ITV’s Media and Entertainment unit, which includes ITV’s TV channels and streaming service ITVX, will be taken over in full by Sky, a subsidiary of Comcast.
In turn, the remaining part of ITV – ITV Studios – will acquire Sky’s Love Productions, the company that makes The Great British Bake Off and The Piano. ITV Studios also produces many of ITV’s top shows, including Coronation Street and Emmerdale, having absorbed the TV production units of ITV’s former regional companies. ITV Studios would become a supplier to ITV/Sky.
Expect scrutiny
The deal is expected to be scrutinised closely by regulators and politicians, not least because of its impact on UK broadcasting. ITV and Sky combined would dominate UK advertising.
Meanwhile, ITV is a major shareholder in ITN, who provides the news across ITV, Channel 4 and 5. ITV also has a share in Everyone TV, the company in charge of Freeview, Freely and Freesat. Sky was an original shareholder in the early days of Freeview, with a 20% equity stake in DTV Services Ltd, a company set up to market the new free-to-air platform. However, it was restricted from gaining greater control. It was also limited in the number of channels it could operate on Freeview. As recently as 2020, Ofcom approval was needed before Sky Arts could launch on the platform.
As a result, both companies may offer a remedy in the deal to appease competition watchdogs.
Sky and ITV have not commented on the story. Any comment would be market sensitive and need to be formally communicated to the stock market and investors first.
By: Marc Thornham