Comcast-owned Sky has agreed to buy ITV's Media & Entertainment business, its free-to-air channels and the ITVX streaming service, for a total consideration of up to £1.6 billion. The move is pitched as a way to build a British broadcasting champion big enough to take on the streaming giants: as Reuters framed it, the deal creates "a British champion to compete with global players YouTube, Netflix, Amazon and Disney". Sky Group CEO Dana Strong called it "a defining moment for British media".
What Sky is actually paying
The headline number is up to £1.6 billion, but the structure matters. At completion ITV receives a base consideration of £1.4 billion, made up of £1.2 billion in cash plus Sky's Love Productions business, contributed at an agreed enterprise value of £200 million. On top of that sits a separate contingent earn-out of up to £200 million, payable in H2 2028 and tied to advertising performance. That earn-out is subject to UK corporation tax. The deal enables "a significant cash return to shareholders of around £950 million (25p per share), excluding any contingent consideration".
Notably, ITV's crown-jewel production arm is staying put. ITV Studios is not included in the deal and remains a standalone, pure-play global content business. It locks into a long-term Content Supply Agreement covering shows like "Coronation Street", "Emmerdale" and "Love Island", anticipated to deliver at least c.£2.1bn of revenue to the ITV Group over 2028–2032.
The regulators are the real hurdle
Here's the catch. The merged business would account for more than 70% of the UK television advertising market, including third-party contracts, analysts have said. Both companies expect the deal to face a lengthy antitrust review and public interest tests, and to satisfy concerns Sky may have to relinquish third-party ad-sales contracts, for example for Paramount-owned Channel 5. The combined company would reach over 20 million households, and with traditional TV losing 16-24 year olds to streaming and YouTube, the firms will argue they need to merge to compete.
There's a bigger picture, too: Sky was sold to Comcast in 2018, and in June the US giant said it would spin out its media assets, including NBCUniversal and Sky, from its cable business. ITV CEO Carolyn McCall framed the sale as building on momentum, saying it will "deliver clear, tangible value for shareholders". Investors gave an early nod: ITV shares traded up 1.2% to 83 pence on Monday.
Completion is expected in H2 2027. Whether British regulators let a single group hold that much of the ad market is the question that will define the next 18 months.
