A formal public interest review gives regulators until Jan. 27 to judge whether Comcast-owned Sky should control ITV’s channels and ITVX.

ITV’s channels are for sale, and the British government just stepped between buyer and seller. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy issued a public interest intervention notice on Wednesday covering Sky’s planned £1.6 billion takeover of ITV’s media and entertainment arm, ITV News reported.

The deal, valued at about $2.3 billion by the Associated Press, covers ITV’s terrestrial channels and its streaming service ITVX. ITV Studios, the production arm behind shows such as I’m A Celebrity, stays independent. Sky is owned by Comcast.

Two regulators now get the file. The Competition and Markets Authority will report on jurisdiction and competition and Ofcom on the media public interest, with both due by 5 p.m. on Jan. 27, 2027, according to the CMA case page. Nandy then decides whether to send the deal to an in-depth Phase 2 investigation.

The grounds reach beyond news. The notice cites free expression and plurality of views in news media and plurality of ownership, plus a fourth test, the availability of a wide range of broadcasting and on-demand programmes, that is not yet written into the law. Nandy has said she will legislate to add it, citing “modern viewing habits and my specific concerns regarding this merger.”

Scale is the worry. When the government first signaled concern in October, TheWrap reported that ITV reaches about 40 million people a week and that a combined Sky and ITV would hold roughly 20% of in-home viewing, second only to the BBC. The companies have projected about $267 million in annual cost savings by the third year after closing.

Sky maintains the transaction “is in the public interest,” pointing to commitments already made to protect ITV’s identity, and ITV said it would cooperate fully. Not everyone sees the review as protection. Rob Ambrose of Caretta Research told IBC that efforts to shield domestic broadcasters this way are “misguided.” Jan. 27 is the next marker. A Phase 2 referral would open a longer, deeper investigation.

Sources

• ITV News – Culture Secretary formally intervenes in Sky’s £1.6bn ITV deal
• Associated Press (via KSAT) – UK government announces public interest investigation into Sky deal to takeover ITV’s media arm
• GOV.UK / CMA – Sky / ITV merger inquiry
• GOV.UK / DCMS – Public Interest Intervention Notice: Sky / ITV (PDF)
• TheWrap – British Government ‘Minded to Intervene’ in Sky’s $2.1 Billion ITV Takeover
• IBC – UK’s Sky-ITV investigation is “misguided”, analyst says

Featured photo: N Chadwick, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.