ITV is managing two timelines at once: a £1.6 billion sale to Sky that is moving through regulatory review, and a softening U.K. advertising market that is forcing the broadcaster to trim near-term programming spend.
The Sky deal is still on track
CEO Carolyn McCall said the sale of ITV’s Media & Entertainment business to Comcast-owned Sky is “progressing as planned.” The transaction covers ITV’s linear channels and the ITVX streaming service, leaving ITV Studios as a standalone global content group built around producers of “The Gentlemen” and “Line of Duty.”
On Nov. 4, U.K. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy issued a Public Interest Intervention Notice, which sends the takeover to the Competition and Markets Authority and media regulator Ofcom for examination. ITV still expects the deal to close in the second half of 2027.
Where the cuts are coming
The business being sold is the one absorbing the pressure. ITV reduced fourth-quarter content spend by £25 million ($33.4 million) and held back a further £5 million in discretionary costs, a combined £30 million temporary pullback. Its full-year 2026 content budget is now projected at about £1.2 billion.
The reason is advertising. ITV expects total advertising revenue to decline by around 5%–10% in the fourth quarter and by roughly 2%–3% for the full year compared with 2025. Nine-month advertising revenue slipped 1%, and the third quarter fell 8%. ITV blamed ongoing economic uncertainty, ad money moving toward global streamers and U.K. restrictions on advertising for less healthy food, which began on Oct. 1, 2025.
Digital growth is real but not enough
- Digital revenue rose 7% to £461 million ($615 million).
- Streaming hours jumped 29% to 2.15 billion.
- Media & Entertainment revenue slipped 1% to £1.43 billion.
- Group revenue dipped 1% to £2.76 billion.
ITVX set viewing records with the final matches of the soccer World Cup, along with “Trigger Point,” “Big Brother” and “Love Island.” Eight of the year’s 10 most-watched commercial series in the U.K. aired on ITV. The digital gains, however, did not fully cover the drop in linear advertising.
Why media buyers should care
For planners, the update is a timely signal to separate linear and digital assumptions in U.K. TV plans. ITV is cutting short-term content costs while streaming inventory grows; that may shift negotiating dynamics in the fourth quarter. Buyers should track ITVX’s ad-supported viewing closely and avoid treating total TV spend as collapsing just because linear is soft.
On the studios side, ITV Studios revenue eased 1% to £1.33 billion, with outside buyer revenue down 4% and sales to ITV’s own channels up 4%. McCall said the studio has a greater proportion of full-year revenue secured than at the same point last year, with heavy Q4 deliveries including “Line of Duty” Season 7 and high-margin licensing deals. ITV expects Studios to post good full-year revenue growth, with EBITA margin at the lower end of its 13%–15% range.
Source: Variety
