ITV still in discussions with Sky over sale of media and entertainment business
ITV has confirmed it is still talking to Sky over the potential sale of its broadcasting and streaming business to the Comcast-owned pay TV giant for £1.6bn (US$2.1bn) after reports emerged last month that progress on the talks had slowed.
The company briefly mentioned the proposed sale of its media and entertainment (M&E) business to Sky in its full-year results for 2025, released today.
ITV said: “Following our announcement in November 2025, we remain in discussions with Sky regarding a possible sale of the M&E business. There can be no certainty as to whether a transaction will take place and an update will be made in due course.”
Last month Reuters reported that talks between the two companies had slowed due to industry uncertainty and complications related to ITV Studios (ITVS), which is not included in the deal.
The news that discussions are ongoing comes as ITV reported a fall in profit and flat revenue for 2025, but said it is on track for growth in 2026 as it continues with its digital strategy.
Profit-before-tax fell by 35% year-on-year, to £338m in 2025 from £521m in 2024, after 2024 profit benefited from the sale of ITV’s share in BritBox International to BBC Studios. Adjusting figures to exclude that one-off benefit, profit-before-tax decreased by 5% in 2025 to £448m from £472m.
Revenue, meanwhile, remained largely flat at £4.12bn (£4.14bn in 2024), as a 5% increase in revenue at ITVS was offset by a 5% decline in the M&E business.
At ITVS, revenue rose to £2.13bn in 2025 from £2.03bn in 2024, which ITV said was ahead of the global content market. Within this, external revenue grew by 10% year-on-year which, according to the company, reflected strong demand from the global streamers.
The percentage of total revenue from streaming platforms rose by three percentage points to 28% from 25%, while total high-end scripted hours on ITVS’s slate grew by 10% to 325 hours from 296 hours.
ITVS’s biggest new unscripted launch in 2025 was Destination X for the BBC and its biggest entertainment launch was season 25 of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! for ITV. Its most-watched streaming original TV season in the US was season seven of Love Island USA for Peacock.
ITVS also achieved double-digit revenue growth at its digital distribution business Zoo 55, boosted by a 30% year-on-year increase in global views to 47 billion.
At the M&E arm, revenue decreased to £1.99bn from £2.01bn, hit by a 5% decline in total advertising revenue (TAR), although that was better than the 6% fall previously guided.
The decline in TAR was a result of a weaker performance in linear ad revenue, which was up against a strong comparative period in 2024 which had benefited from the men’s Euros.
Digital ad revenue, however, grew by 12% year-on-year, boosted by 16% growth in total streaming hours at ITVX. Monthly active users of ITVX grew by 12% to 16.5 million from 14.7 million, but revenue from its paid subscription service remained flat at £48m.
ITV is deprioritising adding paid subscribers to ITVX in favour of concentrating on boosting viewers to its free ad-supported service. This is in response to the strong performance of ad-funded streaming on ITVX and its focus on profitable growth.
The company did note, however, that this strategy shift means it will take slightly longer than initially anticipated to reach its overall £750m digital revenue target.
According to the broadcaster, five of the top 10 dramas in the UK in 2025 were on ITV, while the network received the biggest share of 16-34s with I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!.
ITV also has a partnership with YouTube, where it said over 40% of the viewing of its content comes from under 35-year-olds. This, it said, drives “incremental reach without cannibalising ITVX viewing.”
The broadcaster added that two-thirds of its revenue now comes from ITVS and the digital M&E business, as it continues with its ‘More than TV’ strategy and expands its digital offering.
ITV CEO Carolyn McCall noted that the 2025 results came in ahead of market expectations and said ITV is on track for good growth in revenue in 2026, boosted by the Fifa Men’s Football World Cup this summer.
“We have created two resilient and attractive businesses, and ITV today is a demonstrably leaner, more agile and increasingly digital business, well adapted to deliver future growth,” McCall said.
“As we head into 2026 and beyond, we are focused on delivering continued strategic progress, driving profitable growth and strong cash generation, underpinned by our unwavering value creation strategy.”
