ITV plc
UK's biggest commercial broadcaster, mid-breakup with Sky buying its channels and streaming.
The call
ITV plc is splitting into a Sky-owned broadcast business and a standalone Studios company, with the CMA's early-August ruling deciding which version of ITV actually exists next.
ITV runs TV channels and a streaming service called ITVX in the UK, plus a production studio that makes shows. It is getting harder to compete because Netflix, Amazon, and Disney now offer cheap ad-supported plans that pull viewers and ad money away from ITV's channels and streaming service. The big thing protecting ITV is that it owns popular shows like Love Island and has 60 years of Coronation Street episodes, plus it knows what British viewers actually watch through ITVX, which AI cannot easily copy. However, ITV is splitting in two: Sky is buying the channels and streaming service for up to £1.6 billion, while the production studio becomes its own company, and regulators have not yet approved this deal.
Why
01
AI pressure: Generative AI ad-production tools. ITV already uses GenAI to make ads for small advertisers, but the same tools let anyone skip agencies and buy airtime direct. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.
02
Bigger players: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ ad-supported tiers. Their ad tiers now compete directly for the UK ad budgets ITVX depends on, as ITV's Total Advertising Revenue fell 5% in FY2025. Could a giant copy it? Probably.
03
What protects it. Owned IP like Coronation Street and Love Island, plus first-party ITVX viewing data, both hard for AI or streamers to replicate.
What would change this call
CMA Phase 1 decision on Sky/ITV M&E deal, expected early August 2026. Shows whether the two-entity breakup proceeds cleanly or faces referral/blocking risk.
ITV H1 2026 results (due late July 2026) on TAR trend and Studios margin. Indicates whether linear ad decline is accelerating and Studios growth is holding up.
Any takeover approach for standalone ITV Studios after Sky deal completion. Would show whether Studios survives independently or gets absorbed by a larger consolidator like Banijay.
ITV H1 2026 results (due late July 2026) on TAR trend and Studios margin. Indicates whether linear ad decline is accelerating and Studios growth is holding up.
Any takeover approach for standalone ITV Studios after Sky deal completion. Would show whether Studios survives independently or gets absorbed by a larger consolidator like Banijay.
Key numbers
- Sky to pay up to £1.6bn for ITV's M&E business
- Total Advertising Revenue down 5% to £1,723m
- ITVX streams up 10% to 3.6 billion
Named risks
- CMA Phase 1 referral or block of Sky deal would leave ITV bifurcated with no cash return.
- Linear advertising revenue declining, down 5% YoY in FY2025 amid streaming ad-tier competition.
- ITV Studios must compete unsupported against consolidating rivals like Banijay post-split.
- Headcount figures conflict across data providers (6,078 to 6,866), signaling data reliability issues.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Sky (Comcast) | gaining on | Agreed to acquire ITV's entire M&E business for up to £1.6bn, 2026-07-06 |
| Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ | gaining on | Ad tiers shipped 2024-25 are competing for UK ad spend against ITV |
| Banijay | gaining on | Aggressively consolidating in production/formats as of 2026-03-05 |
| BBC | contesting | Dominant non-commercial UK broadcaster and largest producer by market share |
| YouTube, TikTok | gaining on | Pulling younger (16 to 34) viewers from ITV per company's own competitive framing |
Questions people ask
- Is ITV plc profitable in 2026?
- Yes but declining. FY2025 (year to 31 Dec 2025) Group adjusted EBITA was £534m, down 1% YoY, with adjusted EPS falling 11% to 8.5p, driven by a 5% drop in Total Advertising Revenue to £1,723m, per ITV's own results centre, 2025-12-30.
- Will ITV plc split into two companies?
- It is mid-breakup. On 6 July 2026 Sky (Comcast) agreed to buy ITV's entire Media & Entertainment business (channels plus ITVX) for up to £1.6bn, leaving ITV Studios as a standalone listed company, pending CMA approval with comments due 4 to 6 August 2026.
- Who owns ITV plc?
- ITV plc is publicly listed on the London Stock Exchange (ticker ITV) with a market cap around £2.5bn to £3.1bn as of 6 July 2026. Top holders include Artemis, BlackRock, Schroder and Vanguard; Liberty Global cut its stake from 10% to 2.5% by March 2026.
- Is ITV Studios safe from AI replacement?
- Partially. ITV Studios owns returning IP like Coronation Street and Love Island formats and first-party ITVX viewing data, which resist AI substitution, but ad creative, dubbing and localisation work are already being automated, including ITV's own GenAI ads for SME clients launched 2024-09-20.
- Who is ITV's biggest competitor?
- ITV faces multiple rivals: BBC as the dominant UK public broadcaster and top producer, Sky/Comcast (its own acquirer as of 6 July 2026), Netflix, Amazon and Disney+ competing for UK ad spend since 2024-25, and Banijay aggressively consolidating in production as of March 2026.
- Will regulators block the Sky ITV deal?
- Unclear as of 24 July 2026. The CMA opened an invitation-to-comment period on 23 July 2026 with submissions due 4 to 6 August, ahead of deciding whether to launch a formal Phase 1 investigation into Sky's up to £1.6bn purchase of ITV's Media & Entertainment business.
Timeline
- 2026-07-23CMA opens invitation to comment on Sky/ITV deal, submissions due 4 to 6 August 2026
- 2026-07-06Sky agrees to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment for up to £1.6bn; ITV Studios to stand alone
- 2026-03-19Liberty Global reduces ITV stake to approximately 2.5%
- 2026-03-05ITV publishes FY2025 full year results, revenue £4,121m flat YoY
- 2026-02-18ITV announces biggest ever streaming month, 383 million streams in January 2026
- 2025-10-21Liberty Global announces sale reducing stake toward 5%
- 2025-07-24ITV publishes H1 2025 results, Studios revenue up 3% to £893m
- 2024-09-20ITV launches Generative AI produced TV adverts for SME advertisers
- 2024-03-01ITV sells 50% BritBox International stake to BBC Studios for £255m cash
Revision history
24 July 2026
First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Sky agrees to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment (2026-07-06)
- ITV Sale of ITV M&E business to Sky Investor Presentation (2026-07-06)
- Merger Update: Sky/ITV (2026-07-23)
- Results centre, ITV plc (2025-12-30)
- ITV plc Full Year Results 2025 (2026-03-05)
- ITV announces biggest ever month in streaming history (2026-02-18)
- ITV Plc 2025 FY Results Presentation
- Liberty Global halves ITV stake to 2.5% (2026-03-19)
- ITV Launches GenAI Ad Production for SMEs (2024-09-20)
- ITV sells its 50% share of BritBox International to BBC Studios (2024-03-01)
- ITV plc Half Year Results to 30 June 2025 (2025-07-24)
- ITV plc Full-Year results RNS