ITV in talks to sell television business to Sky

ITV has said it is in "preliminary" discussions to sell its broadcasting business to Sky for £1.6bn, a move that could reshape the UK's television landscape.

The talks focus on ITV's Media and Entertainment division, which includes its free-to-air TV channels as well as the ITV X streaming service.

The discussions with Sky, which is owned by US-based Comcast, come as the television industry faces fierce competition from streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+.

The deal would not include ITV's production arm - ITV Studios - which makes popular programmes such as Love Island and I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here.

Sir Peter Bazalgette, television executive and producer, who was chair of ITV until September 2022 and is a shareholder in the company, told the Today programme that the deal made sense given the pressure from streamers.

On the question of whether a Sky-ITV link up would run up against competition issues, Sir Peter said the regulator needed to "redefine" what the advertising market is.

He said Google and Facebook owner Meta should be treated as the rivals, not the traditional TV advertising market.

Talking about ITV's TV channels, he said: "Free to air channels across world are not seen to have a great amount of value," adding that "there's going to be an inevitable consolidation of domestic broadcasters all across Europe".