Sky has struck a £1.6bn deal to buy ITV’s broadcasting and streaming arm, creating the UK’s biggest commercial broadcaster — but millions of fans of Coronation Street, Love Island and I’m a Celebrity can breathe easy: the shows will remain free to air for the foreseeable future.
The takeover, announced on Monday, sees Sky — owned by US telecoms giant Comcast — pay £1.2bn in cash initially for ITV’s media and entertainment division, which includes its free-to-air TV channels and the ITVX streaming platform. A further £200m could follow in the second half of 2028, depending on advertising revenues that year.
“Sky buys ITV's broadcasting arm for £1.6bn; popular shows stay free until 2034.”
Sky chief executive Dana Strong told the BBC that ITV’s programmes would stay free until at least 2034, the end of its public service licence obligations. “All of those shows will remain on the free ITV service,” she said. “There is no plan or intention of putting those loved shows behind a paywall. We think that is an important commitment we are making.”
However, Strong cautioned that beyond 2034 the picture is less certain. “If viewers still love Coronation Street in 10 years’ time, and I imagine they will, then we’ll be negotiating with ITV Studios to make sure that ITV remains the home of Coronation Street, and we would love for it to remain free to air,” she said. “We’ve got a five-year deal for all of the content that consumers love, and we’ll start renegotiating those deals closer to the time.”
The deal does not include ITV Studios, the production arm behind I’m a Celebrity and the hit drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office, which will remain as a standalone company listed on the London Stock Exchange. As part of a long-term strategic partnership, Sky has committed to spending at least £2.1bn between 2028 and 2032 on the studios business, safeguarding the future of programmes such as Coronation Street and Love Island.
In a separate transaction, Comcast will sell its Love Productions business — the maker of The Great British Bake Off and The Piano — to ITV for £200m.
The takeover marks the end of 70 years of ITV as an independent public service broadcaster, and will now face 12 to 18 months of regulatory scrutiny. ITV’s board expects to return £950m to shareholders, with a further £65m put into escrow for the benefit of the ITV pension scheme.
Sky said it would not look to put “fan-favourite” ITV shows, or sports such as the Six Nations rugby tournament, into its subscription services. Instead, Strong said Sky planned to make more sport available free-to-air. “Some of the sport that is currently on Sky… we’ll put onto ITV so that we can build audiences and fandom for across the world of sport that we cover,” she told the BBC.
Dame Carolyn McCall, ITV’s chief executive, said the deal was needed to compete in a rapidly changing market. “When you look at viewers, there are now 800,000 streaming hours in this market. Five years ago, that was 240,000. That doesn’t even include YouTube,” she told the BBC.
The sale includes ITV’s broadcast channels and ITVX, but not Scottish broadcaster STV, which provides the Channel 3 service in most of Scotland and is not part of the deal.
What remains unclear is the long-term future of ITV News and Sky News. Strong said Sky was “happy to support” both news operations but added that “it’s a little hard to predict the future” as to how long that commitment would last.