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• Fri Nov 7 2025

ITV in talks to sell television business to Sky

1 day ago Share Save Faarea Masud Business reporter Share Save

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ITV has said it is in "preliminary" discussions to sell its broadcasting business to Sky for ?1.6bn, a move that could reshape the UK's television landscape. 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. 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+. 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.

However, one analyst said the broadcaster could lose those shows if the deal goes through as the channel would have to bid alongside rival companies for the contracts, despite ITV being the biggest customer at present. Tom Harrington, from Enders Analysis, said: "It would be unlikely for current shows to leave ITV as there will already be agreements in place." But splitting the two businesses could make it less likely for new shows to appear on ITV, he added. Comcast, which owns Universal Studios, bought Rupert Murdoch's Sky in 2018 and is a major player in the US media sector. It owns NBCUniversal, which contains the NBC and CNBC channels, DreamWorks Animation and streaming service Peacock. 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. 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. Mr Harrington said ITV Studios itself was a "very desirable operation" that was "unencumbered by a legacy linear [TV] business".

Sir Peter Bazalgette, television executive and producer, who was chair of ITV until September 2022 and is a shareholder in the company, told the Today programme that the deal made sense given the pressure from streamers. On the question of whether a Sky-ITV link up would run up against competition issues, Sir Peter said the regulator needed to "redefine" what the advertising market is. He said Google owner, Alphabet and Facebook owner, Meta should be treated as the rivals, not the traditional TV advertising market. Talking about ITV's TV channels, he said: "Free to air channels across world are not seen to have a great amount of value," adding that "there's going to be an inevitable consolidation of domestic broadcasters all across Europe".