UK investigates Sky-ITV merger

To do so, Nandy has issued a Public Interest Intervention Notice (PIIN).

In particular, Nandy’s notice was based on news media’s need for: free expression of opinion; a sufficient number of views; and a sufficient plurality of persons with control of the media enterprises serving each audience.

These concerns are based on public interest considerations listed under section 58 of the Enterprise Act 2002.

Going a step further, Nandy’s PIIN also named public interest considerations not currently specified in the act and announced plans to extend the act to include these additional concerns. Namely, she highlighted the UK’s need for a range of both broadcasting and on-demand programmes, which are high-quality and appealing to a “wide variety of tastes and interests”.

With this notice issued, the CMA will need to report to the Secretary of State on jurisdictional and competition matters. Likewise, Ofcom will have to report on these public interest concerns.

Sky officially agreed terms to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment for £1.6bn in July 2026. The plan was to combine free-to-air broadcasting, advertising-funded streaming, and subscription television with Sky’s wider portfolio of broadband, mobile, and business services. This, in turn, was to intended to provide scale and security to help the organisations compete with global streaming giants and YouTube in the UK, while investing in British content, skills, infrastructure, and innovation.

In the letters notifying Sky and ITV of the decision, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) wrote: “The Secretary of State is aware that the UK TV landscape is undergoing a structural transition from traditional broadcasting to a market dominated by global streaming and tech platforms. She recognises that this shift may place severe pressure on audience shares, advertising revenues and the longer-term financial sustainability of domestic public service media. She acknowledges the possibility that the Proposed Acquisition may bring public interest benefits...

“However, she also has reason to believe that the Proposed Acquisition may have implications for certain media public interest considerations, including media plurality within the UK.

“While you offer reassuring detail in your representations, these statements remain voluntary public commitments, and the Secretary of State has decided not to rely on them to the extent of concluding that regulatory scrutiny is not needed in this case. She therefore considers it appropriate to intervene and to refer the Proposed Acquisition to Ofcom and the CMA to obtain the findings of their investigations into public interest considerations… competition implications and questions of jurisdiction”.  

“The Secretary of State remains concerned that ITV’s contribution could diminish if Sky’s absorption of the UK’s primary commercial PSB into a primarily subscription-led business creates countervailing financial incentives to extract efficiencies and exerts pressure on ITV’s ability to sustain its current range of broadcasting or free-to-air on-demand programming. She is concerned that if this occurs, it may compromise the  availability, throughout the UK, of a wide range of broadcasting and on-demand programmes, which in each case, taken as a whole, is of high quality and calculated to appeal to a variety of tastes and interests.”

UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy first said she was "minded to intervene" in Sky’s £1.6bn deal to buy ITV's media and entertainment division in October 2026. Discover more here.