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Government Formally Intervenes in Sky-ITV Deal

The government has formally issued a public interest intervention notice over Sky's planned purchase of ITV's media and entertainment arm, setting a deadline of the 27th of January for regulators to report.

The government today issued a public interest intervention notice over Sky’s planned purchase of the media and entertainment arm of ITV (LON: ITV). The broadcaster’s shares closed higher on the day.

ITV closed today at 66.55p, up 1.55p or 2.38% from 65p, after trading between 64.6p and 66.85p on volume of 9,090,408 shares. The close is still 9.0% below the 73.15p close of the 3rd of August.

ITV.LSE

The notice, published to the market at 1.50pm, was issued under section 42 of the Enterprise Act 2002. It covers Sky UK Limited’s anticipated acquisition of ITV M&E Holdings Limited. The Competition and Markets Authority must report on jurisdictional and competition matters, and the media regulator Ofcom on media public interest considerations, by 5pm on the 27th of January.

It turns into a legal step the warning given on the 15th of October, when culture secretary Lisa Nandy said she was minded to intervene. The deal is a £1.6bn takeover of ITV’s media and entertainment arm, which does not include ITV Studios.

Nandy’s reasoning, set out in that October statement rather than today’s notice, was this:

Having considered the anticipated merger, I am of the view that there are reasonable grounds to believe that it might affect availability of a wide range of high-quality and varied programming on the on-demand platforms that are now widely used by UK audiences.

Lisa Nandy, culture secretary, 15th of October

The department’s letter also cited free expression in news and plurality of broadcasting. A ministerial decision follows the reports.

Line chart of ITV's daily closing share price from August to November, with the October warning and the November notice marked
ITV daily closing price in pence, 3 August to 4 November 2026, with the 15 October warning and 4 November notice marked.

After the October letter, Sky said it would engage constructively as the review progresses, and said it was confident that combining the two businesses would create a stronger British media business better able to compete with global streaming platforms. ITV said it looked forward to fully cooperating.

ITV shares fell about 3.0% to 64.45p on the day of the October warning, touching 61.5p, a 52-week low. Today’s close sits below both its 50-day average of 67.871p and its 200-day average of 75.964p.

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