Sky makes £2bn spending pledge as it prepares takeover of ITV broadcasting arm

Sky has committed to spending £2bn on ITV’s studios business over the next five years as it hammers out a takeover of its broadcasting arm, a move that will safeguard the future of popular programmes such as Coronation Street and Love Island.Sky, owned by the US telecoms company Comcast, has been in talks for months to buy ITV’s media and entertainment operations, which include its free-to-air TV channels in the UK and the ITVX streaming platform. The £1.6bn takeover deal could be announced in early July, the Sunday Times reported.The negotiations involve the complex task of separating ITV’s channels and its streaming platform, ITVX, from ITV-studios" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="154349" data-entity-type="organization">ITV Studios, which is not part of the acquisition and would remain as a standalone company, listed on the London Stock Exchange.ITV-studios" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="154349" data-entity-type="organization">ITV Studios is one of the world’s biggest production companies. It has made shows including Love Island, I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! and the hit drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office, and accounted for more than half of ITV’s £4.1bn annual revenues in 2025.ITV was created in 1955 to challenge the BBC’s monopoly on UK television, and its studios arm is made up of dozens of individual production companies. It counts rival broadcasters and streaming companies among its customers, including the pay-TV firm Sky.ITV-studios" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="154349" data-entity-type="organization">ITV Studios, one of the world’s biggest production companies, has made shows including Love Island. Photograph: ITV/ShutterstockSky, which has a long-term commercial partnership with ITV, already buys shows from ITV-studios" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="154349" data-entity-type="organization">ITV Studios and is thought to have agreed to commit £2bn in spending over the next five years after the deal, continuing an existing arrangement. This is not new money, according to a source.This should help put the business on a solid footing and guarantee the future of a long list of programmes, which include the soap operas Coronation Street and Emmerdale as well as Love Island and I’m a Celebrity.As part of the deal, ITV-studios" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="154349" data-entity-type="organization">ITV Studios is expected to buy Love Productions, which makes The Great British Bake Off, from Sky.Analysts have predicted that Sky’s proposed takeover of ITV’s broadcast and streaming division would result in heavy job losses at ITV to remove duplication.Sky’s ambition is to create a streaming champion for the UK by buying ITVX, the country’s biggest free, ad-supported streaming service, competing with the subscription-based services Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+. ITVX had 16.5 million monthly active users last year, up from 14.7 million in 2024.The takeover deal is expected to attract scrutiny from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the telecoms regulator, Ofcom.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionOfcom is likely to examine concerns about the owner of Sky News taking ITV’s 40% stake in ITN, the production company behind ITV News, Channel 4 News and 5 News.Any deal combining the TV ad sales operations of ITV and Sky, giving Comcast potential control of more than 70% of the UK market, could prompt an intervention from the CMA.Industry sources have said Sky may have to look at remedies, including relinquishing its third-party sales deals, which include representing ad sales for Channel 5 and Disney in the UK. This could lead the CMA to reconsider how it measures the ad market to include digital advertising.Sky and ITV declined to comment.