ITV Sale to Sky Reshapes U.K. TV Market
ITV sale to Sky on July 6, 2026 transfers ITV channels and ITVX to Comcast-owned Sky, prompts an ITV Studios spin-off and shifts content supply flows.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- ITV had agreed to sell its Media and Entertainment division to Comcast-owned Sky for about $2.1 billion.
- Sky will acquire ITV channels and ITVX and sign a five-year content supply pact with ITV Studios.
- ITV will spin off ITV Studios and plan a substantial cash return funded by the sale proceeds.
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ITV plc agreed on July 6, 2026, to sell its Media & Entertainment division to Comcast-owned Sky, transferring the broadcaster’s UK channels and streaming platform. The deal prompts an ITV Studios spin-off and a multi-year content supply pact that reshapes competitive scale in the U.K. media market.
Deal Terms and Structure
The transaction transfers ITV’s Media & Entertainment division, including free-to-air channels such as ITV1 and the advertising-funded streaming service ITVX, to Sky. The deal remains subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
The headline consideration is up to £1.6 billion (about $2.1 billion), with £1.2 billion paid in cash at completion and an earn-out of up to £200 million tied to advertising revenue, payable by the first half of 2028.
Scale and Content Pact
ITV will spin off ITV Studios as an independent, London-listed production company, with existing shareholders retaining proportional ownership. This separation keeps production assets outside the consumer-facing business being sold and maintains the studios’ direct link to current investors.
Sky and ITV Studios will enter a five-year, £2.1 billion content supply agreement effective on completion. This pact secures programming pipelines for the acquired platform.
The Media & Entertainment unit generated about £2.0 billion in revenue in 2025 and held roughly a 32.0% share of commercial viewing in the U.K. ITVX monthly active users reached about 16.5 million, up nearly 60% over four years. Combined viewing for ITV and Sky stood at 18.3% in May, narrowly behind YouTube’s 18.6%.
ITV plans to return about £950 million in cash to shareholders, roughly 25 pence per share, funded by the sale proceeds.
The companies describe the deal as a scale play to strengthen a British competitor to global streaming services and YouTube by combining free-to-air reach with pay-TV and subscription streaming capabilities.
ITV remains legally required under its public service broadcasting licence to provide a free-to-air service until at least 2034, limiting any immediate migration of flagship programming behind paywalls.
