Sky has agreed to acquire ITV's media and entertainment broadcasting arm for £1.6 billion.
The deal, announced on Tuesday, includes ITV's terrestrial TV channels and streaming service ITVX.
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The acquisition will result in job cuts across corporate and commercial divisions where operational overlaps exist.
Sky aims to save £200 million in costs as part of the restructuring.
The transaction excludes ITV Studios, the production arm behind shows like I'm A Celebrity and Mr Bates Vs The Post Office.
ITV Studios will remain debt-free with guaranteed contracts, positioning it for a potential future sale.
Advertisers are expected to raise concerns and seek competition protections from regulators.
The deal consolidates two of the three traditional market routes, potentially requiring a balanced restructuring with rival Channel 4.
ITV Chief Executive Officer Dame Carolyn McCall defended the scaling of the remaining production business amid competition from global tech giants.
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She stated that ITV Studios already has the scale to compete globally.
McCall emphasized that the market consolidation is about Britain, not Hollywood. She linked the deal to regional realities rather than international entertainment trends.
The acquisition marks a cultural shift for Sky, which has softened its stance on public service broadcasting since Comcast purchased it for £30 billion in 2018.
Former controlling shareholder Rupert Murdoch had previously criticized the British public service television structure.
Murdoch argued that state-supported programming represented a market failure.
He envisioned a digital universe with vast programming and data libraries, which the current media landscape now mirrors.
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Government officials have introduced plans to adjust digital video algorithms to ensure British public service broadcasters remain discoverable against dominant global platforms like YouTube.
