Sky to acquire ITV broadcasting business in £1.6bn deal amid streaming battle

Comcast-owned Sky has agreed to acquire ITV's broadcasting and streaming business in a deal worth up to £1.6 billion, marking one of the most significant restructurings in British broadcasting as traditional television companies seek greater scale to compete with global streaming platforms.

Announced on Monday, the agreement will see Sky take ownership of ITV's portfolio of television channels and streaming platform, ITVX. ITV Studios, the company's production arm behind several internationally acclaimed programmes, is excluded from the acquisition and will be spun off as a separately listed public company.

Deal structure

Under the terms of the agreement, Sky will pay £1.2 billion upfront, followed by an additional £200 million in the first half of 2028, subject to ITV achieving £1.7 billion in advertising revenue during the preceding year.

As part of the restructuring, ITV Studios will acquire Love Productions, the company behind The Great British Bake Off. Industry analysts value the transaction at tens of millions of pounds.

To safeguard the availability of ITV's flagship programmes on free-to-air television, Sky and ITV Studios have also entered into a long-term content supply agreement valued at a minimum of £2.1 billion. The deal, which runs from 2028 to 2032, covers popular programmes including Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Love Island and I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!

Nearly a year of negotiations

The transaction concludes discussions that began late last year. ITV informed the London Stock Exchange in November that it had received an acquisition proposal for its Media & Entertainment division, with negotiations continuing for almost nine months before the parties reached an agreement.

Sky Chief Executive Dana Strong described the acquisition as a defining moment for the company and one of the most significant transactions in British broadcasting, while emphasising that ITV would continue to fulfil its role as a public service broadcaster under its new ownership.

Strengthening competition against streaming giants

The acquisition is designed to strengthen Sky's position as competition intensifies from global streaming platforms.

ITV generated around £2 billion in revenue during 2025 and accounts for approximately 32 per cent of the UK's commercial television audience. Meanwhile, ITVX has expanded its monthly active user base by nearly 60 per cent over the past four years to reach 16.5 million users.

Combined with Sky's pay television, broadband and streaming operations, the enlarged business is expected to have greater scale to compete with streaming services including Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and YouTube, all of which have attracted growing audiences, particularly younger viewers aged between 16 and 24.

The transaction also reflects the wider trend of consolidation across the global media industry as broadcasters seek greater scale to remain competitive. Major acquisitions such as Disney's purchase of 21st Century Fox and Amazon's acquisition of MGM have demonstrated how established media companies are expanding to strengthen their market position.

For Comcast, the acquisition builds on a long-term European strategy that began with its $39 billion purchase of Sky in 2018 following a lengthy bidding battle with Rupert Murdoch's Fox. Acquiring ITV further strengthens Comcast's television and streaming footprint across Europe.

Regulatory scrutiny expected

The proposed acquisition is expected to face close examination from UK competition regulators.

If approved without changes, the combined business would control more than 70 per cent of Britain's television advertising market, raising concerns over market concentration.

To address potential regulatory issues, Sky may be required to divest some third-party advertising sales agreements, including those involving Paramount-owned Channel 5. Industry analysts also expect regulators to consider additional remedies as they assess the deal's impact on advertisers, broadcasters and consumers.

ITV Studios to remain independent

Although separated from ITV's broadcasting operations, ITV Studios will continue as an independent production company supplying content to broadcasters and streaming platforms globally.

Its portfolio includes Love Island, Coronation Street, Rivals for Disney+, and The Reluctant Traveller for Apple TV+, highlighting the company's growing reliance on producing content for multiple international platforms rather than a single broadcaster.

Executives across the television production sector are closely monitoring the transaction. Speaking during an earnings call this week, Banijay Group Chief Executive François Riahi said consolidation had become the defining trend shaping the global television industry, arguing that scale is increasingly essential to compete in international content production.

The proposed Sky-ITV deal reflects the profound transformation of the television industry. While British broadcasters once competed primarily with one another, they now face competition from global technology companies investing billions of dollars annually in original programming and operating across hundreds of markets.

The implications extend beyond the UK. Broadcasters across Africa, including MultiChoice, Canal+ and StarTimes, are expected to monitor the transaction closely as they face similar competitive pressures from Netflix, YouTube and Prime Video. A larger Sky-ITV business could also reshape international content partnerships and licensing opportunities, particularly if it increases investment in globally distributed programming.

Whether regulators ultimately approve the acquisition in its current form remains uncertain. However, the agreement reinforces a growing consensus across the media industry that, in the streaming era, achieving scale has become increasingly important for long-term competitiveness.