ITV’s Sale to Sky ‘Progressing as Planned’ as Broadcaster Cuts Fourth-Quarter Content Spend Amid U.K. Ad Slump

By Naman Ramachandran

Naman Ramachandran

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U.K. broadcaster ITV‘s CEO Carolyn McCall said the broadcaster’s sale of its Media & Entertainment business to Sky is “progressing as planned,” even as weaker advertiser demand forced the U.K. company to cut £25 million ($33.4 million) from its fourth-quarter content spend.

The deal, which covers ITV’s channels and its ITVX streamer, would leave the company as a standalone global content group built around ITV Studios, the producer of “The Gentlemen” and “Line of Duty.” Comcast-owned Sky agreed in July to pay £1.6 billion ($2.1 billion) for the business, and ITV still expects it to close in the second half of 2027. On Nov. 4, U.K. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy issued a Public Interest Intervention Notice on the takeover, as Variety reported, opening the way for the Competition and Markets Authority and media regulator Ofcom to examine it and report back to her.

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