Sky Buys ITV Media Arm for £1.6bn
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- Sky is acquiring ITV's media and entertainment divisions for £1.6bn in one of the biggest takeovers in British media history, subject to approval from Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority.
- Dana Strong, Sky's chief executive, told the BBC that flagship ITV shows including Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Love Island will remain free-to-air at least until ITV's public service licence obligations expire in 2034.
- Strong also said some Sky sports coverage would be made available for free on ITV, and committed to spending £2.1bn on content from ITV Studios over a five-year period.
- The deal excludes ITV Studios, the production arm behind Love Island and I'm a Celebrity, which will become a standalone business; Scottish broadcaster STV is also not included.
- ITV will receive £1.2bn in cash plus Sky's Love Productions, maker of Great British Bake Off and valued at £200m, with a further £200m due in 2028 if advertising revenue targets are met.
- Dame Caroline Dinenage, chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said regulators would need to scrutinize the combined market share and that "viewers will also want reassurance that there will be no impact on their favourite shows."
Why it matters: The reassuring "free until 2034" pledge rests on a Sky-ITV Studios content deal that runs only five years, so the real renegotiation point sits closer than the headline suggests. A combined Sky-ITV entity would face a UK market where streaming hours have nearly tripled to 800,000 in five years, intensifying pressure on ad revenue and on the regulator's tolerance for scale.
