‘The UK Needs Some Media Independent of US Control’: Comcast’s Move for ITV Sharpens Minds

The idea of Comcast acquiring ITV has raised worries about the consequences on British public service broadcasting, a reality that the broadcaster's new CEO, joining from a senior post at Sky, will be acutely aware of.

Sky’s advertising chief, Priya Dogra, will now be looked to to lead the charge to oppose her ex-company's acquisition bid to protect Channel 4.

The potential union of Sky and ITV’s terrestrial and streaming assets would leave Channel 4 a significantly weaker competitor in the realm of TV and digital ad sales, reigniting talk of the need to revisit some form of alliance with the BBC for future viability.

Foremost Worry: The Future of News

However, it is the likely impacts on the future of news provision that are causing the most urgent concern for many within the television industry.

The surprise news last month that Comcast, which controls assets including Universal Studios and bought Rupert Murdoch’s Sky for £30bn in 2018, makes commercial sense. Traditional broadcasters are facing a deep-seated viability crisis as audiences and revenues continue to rapidly migrate to global digital players such as Meta, Google, Amazon, and Netflix.

“Comcast’s move for ITV is causing nervousness among media watchers, with especial focus for news provision.”

However, the potential £1.6bn takeover of ITV’s television business and streaming service, which would end 70 years of independence, is riddled with regulatory, political, and competition problems.

At a stroke, Comcast would control Sky News and ITV News—including its sprawling regional news operation—and become the biggest shareholder in ITN, which produces news for ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5.

While Comcast’s 40% stake in ITN would not be a majority holding—other shareholders include the owner of the Daily Mail, Thomson Reuters, and Informa—it would still be deeply engaged in the news output of most of the main commercial broadcasters.

“If a deal materialises, the fate of ITN is an critical one that will concentrate attention politically,” notes one senior TV executive. “Effectively, they will be involved in the news output of all the biggest non-BBC channels.”

Investment Promises and Regulatory Scrutiny

Comcast guaranteed to keep funding Sky News for a decade, raising its funding annually in line with inflation, as part of its 2018 takeover of Sky. As that commitment draws closer to ending, concerns have been raised about whether the US company will continue to completely finance Sky News, which has an annual budget of £100m but is thought to make losses of as much as £80m.

It is understood that any deal to buy ITV would include assurances not to seek permission from media regulator Ofcom to change the conditions of its public service broadcast licence, which includes duties to national and regional news.

“There are certainly questions about diversity of voice,” says Stewart Puvis, a former ITN chief executive. “Theoretically, Comcast could, say, merge Sky and ITV News and use its position as a 40% shareholder in ITN to wield power... I would hope Comcast appreciate ways of solving these problems.”

Pressure on Public Service

British TV executives have previously cautioned about the risk posed to the UK’s system of public service broadcasters (PSBs) by large parts of the industry being snapped up by US corporations.

Recently, Ofcom published a report warning that public service television, such as news provision and UK-focused content, risks becoming an “threatened entity” as viewers migrate to US online platforms and streamers.

The watchdog also revealed data showing that YouTube had overtaken ITV to become the UK’s second most-watched media service, behind only the BBC, with it and Netflix now the two most popular first TV destinations among young people.

A Call for Collaboration

There are those who believe that a Sky takeover of ITV, against the backdrop of the viewer shift to mostly US digital companies, indicates the need for closer cooperation between the UK’s biggest broadcasters.

“The UK wants and needs its own part of mass media which isn’t US controlled,” says a second broadcasting executive. “It’s a vital strategic need. I think the government needs to work out how the boards of the PSBs have a new part to their remits that compels them to collaborate.”

Given that advertisers follow eyeballs, a combination of Sky and ITV could create a British TV and streaming titan, with the two companies’ sales houses controlling a dominant share of total ad spend on traditional TV and broadcasters’ streaming services.

Competition Hurdles

Any deal will prompt an investigation by the UK competition watchdog. Sky is hoping the regulator will expand the view of the ad market to include the impact of giants like YouTube and Facebook.

“I think it will get cleared,” says Alex DeGroote, a media analyst. “Comcast will do everything it can to say it will maintain the PSB status quo... But you don’t buy to ultimately keep everything the same. ITV plus Sky would give them a hugely dominant position in the TV ad market.”

The Precarious Position of Channel 4 and the BBC

Channel 4, which relies on advertising for the vast majority of its income, now faces a diminished BBC as a potential partner and a formidable commercial threat from a combined Sky-ITV.

“We may at some point end up in that situation because of the deep cumulative cuts to the BBC’s funding and because Channel 4, too, has a core budgetary challenge,” says Patrick Barwise, an emeritus professor at London Business School. “Channel 4 has repeatedly outperformed forecasts, but that is just postponing the problem. It’s now beginning to run out of road.”

The continuing debate emphasises a larger dilemma for British media: how to preserve a independent voice and a robust public service ecosystem in an increasingly globalised and digitally dominated landscape.