Comcast Proposed ITV takeover would have effect on public service broadcasting

The prospect of Comcast taking over ITV has prompted concerns about the impact on British public service broadcasting, a fact that Channel 4's new chief executive, moving from a senior post at Sky, will be all too aware of.

- Mark Sweney

Sky’s advertising chief, Priya Dogra, will now be expected to lead the charge to block her former employer's takeover plan to protect Channel 4.

The proposed combination of Sky and ITV’s broadcasting operation would leave Channel 4 a relative commercial minnow when it comes to TV and digital ad sales, reigniting talk of a tie-up with the BBC for long-term survival.

However, the potential ramifications for the future of news provision are causing the most alarm for many in the TV industry.

The surprise news last month that Comcast, which owns assets including Universal Studios and bought Rupert Murdoch's Sky for £30bn in 2018, is in talks to buy ITV's broadcasting business makes commercial sense.

Traditional broadcasters are facing a long-term existential threat as audiences and revenues continue to rapidly migrate to global digital players such as Meta, Google, Amazon and Netflix.

However, the potential £1.6bn takeover of ITV's broadcasting arm and streaming service, which would end 70 years of independence, is laden with regulatory, political and competition concerns.

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

While Comcast's 40% of ITN would not be a controlling stake - the owner of the Daily Mail, Thomson Reuters and Informa each hold 20% - it would still be heavily involved in the news output of most of the main broadcasters.

"If a deal materialises, the fate of ITN is an interesting one that will focus minds politically," says one senior TV executive. "Effectively they will be involved in the news output of all the biggest non-BBC channels other than GB News."