And now, it’s officially a deal! Comcast‘s Sky said that it has agreed to acquire the media and entertainment (M&E) unit of U.K. TV giant ITV for £1.6 billion ($2.13 billion). The deal covers ITV’s networks and streaming businesses, but not its production arm ITV Studios.
ITV, led by CEO Carolyn McCall, had first disclosed the talks with Sky focused on the company’s commercial free-to-air TV channels in the U.K., as well as its ITVX streaming platform, in November. The planned deal would make ITV Studios a standalone company.
Under its terms,ITV Studios is buying Love Productions, the producer of The Great British Bake Off and The Piano, bolstering its collection of intellectual property.
Sky is led by CEO Dana Strong. It not only operates pay-TV and streaming businesses in the U.K., Ireland and Italy, but also has been growing its telecom offerings, such as broadband and mobile phone operations. Sky also owns theproduction arm Sky Studios, which is led by Cécile Frot-Coutaz and has been growing its investment in original content creation. Recent Sky Studios productions have included the likes ofMary & George, starring Julianne Moore,The Tattooist of Auschwitz, starring Harvey Keitel, andThe Day of the Jackal, starring Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch. Comcast acquired Sky in 2018.
ITV Studios, which produces such shows asLove Island,Britain’s Got Talentand theHarlan Coben Netflixhit seriesFool Me Once, among many others, has been a topic of separate deal chatter, which returned this week after news of the mega-merger between production giants Banijay and All3Media, owned by a joint investment partnership betweenGerry Cardinale’s RedBird and IMI Media, led by RedBird operating partner and RedBird IMI CEO Jeff Zucker.RedBird IMI had acquiredAll3Media in 2024 for $1.45 billion.
During a Wednesday conference call, François Riahi, the CEO of Banijay Group, the parent company of Banijay, was asked about the merged entity’s possible interest in ITV Studios. “Consolidation is the name of the game,” he said, adding that the company would keep all options open. “When you look at the Warner-Paramount deal, it’s very easy to understand why you need to be big and global to be relevant in this sector. So we share this view with RedBird IMI.”