{"id":3635,"date":"2026-07-06T11:38:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T11:38:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3635"},"modified":"2026-07-06T11:38:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T11:38:46","slug":"itv-boss-hopeful-sky-acquisition-will-clear-regulators-the-market-has-changed-so-fundamentally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3635","title":{"rendered":"Itv Boss \u2018Hopeful\u2019 Sky Acquisition Will Clear Regulators: \u2018The Market Has Changed So Fundamentally\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tFollowing news on Monday morning that NBCUniversal-owned Sky is acquiring 70-year-old British public service broadcaster ITV, ITV CEO Carolyn McCall joined a series of calls with investors and media to talk through logistics.<\/p>\n

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\n\tOn the investor call following the announcement, McCall said the sale reflects years of the ITV board weighing its strategic options \u2014 and that Sky was ITV\u2019s preferred partner from the start. \u201cIt is worth also saying that through all our strategic thinking on the ExCo and the board, the company at the top of the list to do anything with was Sky. And so ITV did approach Sky, actually, to just say, \u2018Do you want to chat and do you want to talk further?\u2019 And that\u2019s really how this happened,\u201d McCall said, adding that shifts in viewing habits since the pandemic and the accelerating scale of global streamers in the U.K. made the timing right.<\/p>\n

\n\tChris Kennedy, ITV\u2019s chief financial officer, detailed the mechanics of the deal\u2019s earn-out on the call: the additional up to \u00a3200 million ($268 million) in contingent consideration becomes payable only if ITV\u2019s total advertising revenue for 2027 exceeds \u00a31.7 billion ($2.27 billion), with the maximum payout triggered at \u00a31.8 billion ($2.41 billion) in TAR. Current analyst consensus puts 2027 TAR at roughly \u00a31.75 billion ($2.34 billion), Kennedy said. <\/p>\n

\n\tHe also pointed to the recent Banijay\u2013All3Media merger, which was valued at 10 times EBITDA, as a benchmark for how production businesses are trading, against ITV Studios\u2019 2025 EBITDA of \u00a3330 million ($441 million) and a market capitalization of roughly \u00a32.5 billion ($3.34 billion) for ITV plc before deal speculation began.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn a follow-up phone call with media, McCall answered further questions. Here are the highlights along with Variety<\/em>\u2018s analysis.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tWhy are Sky and ITV embarking on this deal?\t<\/h4>\n

\nMcCall says: <\/strong>We\u2019re very complementary, so you go from free to air all the way to high-end subscription service, and so I think as a combined business, it becomes relevant to many, many, many more people. I think Sky have already said there will be more sport on free to air, which is fantastic. The 2.1 billion commission means all the flagship programs of ITV will remain\u2026 on free to air. Dana has actually talked about the fact that she sees regional news as a massive opportunity for Sky, because they don\u2019t do regional news.<\/p>\n

\nReality: <\/strong>The fracture of the media landscape means for many legacy media companies scale is the only way to compete. In the short-term it could be good news for viewers but the hangover might kick in in 2034 when ITV\u2019s current PSB license expires.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tWill the deal get through the regulators?\t<\/h4>\n

\nMcCall says: <\/strong>We don\u2019t expect it to be a quick review. We know it is likely to go to phase two, and there will be a public interest test as well. So we\u2019re under no illusion it will be a thorough review. We\u2019re hopeful, and we believe the conditions are right, because the market has changed so fundamentally, I think it\u2019s very difficult not to see that.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2026When you look at the advertising market, it\u2019s not three broadcasters anymore competing with each other for linear advertising. It is now just enormous numbers of people competing for video advertising \u2026 and actually, if you look at that market, Sky and ITV combined would be about 20% of advertising, it\u2019s very low. So I actually think the whole world has changed for everybody, including viewers and advertisers, so hopefully that will be recognized.<\/p>\n

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\nReality<\/strong>: McCall is correct that while regulators in the U.K. will scrutinize the deal closely \u2014 including the Competition and Markets Authority, Ofcom and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport \u2014 ultimately it is likely to pass because it is one of the few ways in which U.K. media companies can compete against U.S. giants such as YouTube.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tWill there be job losses?\t<\/h4>\n

\nMcCall says: <\/strong>As you\u2019d expect, when two companies come together, there will always be some duplication. So, I think what Dana [Strong, Sky CEO] referred to was that there could be. I think she\u2019s also made it very, very clear that it will be primarily around the areas she\u2019s already highlighted, which are: you bring two marketing departments together, you bring technology platform together, and then non-U.K. content, because we actually currently spend over 100 million on non-U.K. content, and they are obviously a large American company\u2026And they\u2019ve talked about a joint integration program, so it will be Sky and ITV, so it\u2019s not all about ITV in terms of jobs, it will also be about Sky.<\/p>\n

\nReality:<\/strong> Currently unknown but likely yes. Having said that, most media companies in the U.K., including ITV, have already embarked on numerous rounds of job cuts over the past few years as the post-pandemic advertising market shrunk. Last year ITV cut 220 jobs in daytime and slashed commissioning budgets. <\/p>\n

\n\t\tWith ITV Studios set to become independent, is it a prime acquisition target?\t<\/h4>\n

\nMcCall Says: <\/strong>Well, I mean, today I would say that\u2019s unlikely, because we\u2019re very proud that we\u2019re going to be a listed independent global studios business. Our shareholders are hugely supportive of that. They\u2019re really looking forward to it being a listed business and they see lots of opportunities there. So, yeah, there\u2019s consolidation everywhere, so you know, I don\u2019t think anything changes, but I think actually there\u2019s a huge amount of confidence in ITV Studios as a large global studio.<\/p>\n

\nReality: <\/strong>ITV Studios is a prime acquisition target, especially following the Banijay\/All3Media merger, and would-be-buyers are already said to be circling.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tIs the consolidation bad news for independent producers?\t<\/h4>\n

\nMcCall says: <\/strong>I think this may be worth reminding everyone about the PSB requirements, they go up to 2034. It means 25% of qualifying programming must be made by independent producers. So I think independent producers are very secure in this. 35% of the U.K. commissioned content has to be made outside London, that has to be honored, and 85% of peak-time programming, Kevin, from 6 till 10.30 must be original programs, so that ensures that U.K. content production continues at scale. So I think that\u2019s kind of why we think this is very good for viewers, and also therefore for advertisers.<\/p>\n

\nReality:<\/strong> Nobody knows. While ITV maintains its PSB status and particularly with the divestment of ITV Studios, there is a certain amount of protection and opportunity for indies, but given the deal includes an a \u00a32.1 billion output commitment it\u2019s questionable whether indies will see much if any benefit.<\/p>\n

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ITV boss Carolyn McCall said she is hopeful that Sky’s acquisition of the British PSB will clear regulators given the state of the market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[1218,2975,256],"class_list":["post-3635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biz","tag-comcast","tag-itv","tag-sky"],"yoast_head":"\nItv Boss \u2018Hopeful\u2019 Sky Acquisition Will Clear Regulators: \u2018The Market Has Changed So Fundamentally\u2019 - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3635\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Itv Boss \u2018Hopeful\u2019 Sky Acquisition Will Clear Regulators: \u2018The Market Has Changed So Fundamentally\u2019 - 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