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The possibility of Comcast acquiring ITV has raised apprehensions about the impact on British public service broadcasting, a reality that Channel 4’s new chief executive, joining from a key role at Sky, will be acutely aware of.

Sky’s ad sales head, Priya Dogra, will now be tasked to lead the charge to thwart her ex-company's takeover plan to protect Channel 4.

The proposed 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, reviving talk of the need to reconsider some form of alliance with the BBC for continued existence.

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 shock revelation last month that Comcast, which controls assets including Universal Studios and bought Rupert Murdoch’s Sky for £30bn in 2018, is financially rational. Traditional broadcasters are facing a profound survival challenge as audiences and revenues continue to rapidly migrate to global digital players such as Meta, Google, Amazon, and Netflix.

“Comcast’s advance for ITV is causing trepidation among media watchers, with particular concern for news provision.”

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

Overnight, Comcast would control Sky News and ITV News—including its far-reaching regional news operation—and become the majority 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 non-BBC broadcasters.

“If a deal is completed, the fate of ITN is an pivotal one that will focus minds politically,” comments 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 fully fund Sky News, which has an annual budget of £100m but is thought to operate at a deficit of as much as £80m.

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

“There are certainly questions about plurality,” 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 gain influence... I would hope Comcast realise ways of solving these problems.”

An Endangered Model

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

Recently, Ofcom published a report warning that public service television, such as news provision and UK-focused content, risks becoming an “at-risk model” 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.

The Need for Unity

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

“The UK requires and deserves 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 requires 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.”

Funding Problems of Channel 4 and the BBC

Channel 4, which relies on advertising for the vast majority of its income, now faces a eroded 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 structural funding problem,” says Patrick Barwise, an emeritus professor at London Business School. “Channel 4 has repeatedly beaten the predictions, but that is just delaying the inevitable. It’s now beginning to face a crunch point.”

The ongoing saga underscores a wider question for British media: how to maintain a independent voice and a robust public service ecosystem in an progressively globalised and digitally dominated landscape.