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The prospect of the American media conglomerate acquiring ITV has sparked worries about the effect on the UK's public service broadcasting, a fact that Channel 4’s new CEO, who previously held a senior post at Sky, will be acutely aware of.

Sky’s advertising chief, Priya Dogra, will now be tasked to spearhead efforts to thwart her former employer’s acquisition bid to safeguard Channel 4.

The potential combination of Sky and ITV’s terrestrial and streaming assets would leave Channel 4 a relative commercial minnow in the realm of TV and digital ad sales, reigniting talk of the need to revisit some form of tie-up with the BBC for long-term survival.

Foremost Worry: The Future of News

However, it is the potential ramifications on the future of news provision that are causing the most urgent concern for many within the television industry.

The unexpected announcement last month that Comcast, which holds assets including Universal Studios and purchased Rupert Murdoch’s Sky for £30bn in 2018, is financially rational. Traditional broadcasters are facing a deep-seated viability crisis as audiences and revenues continue to decisively move to global digital players such as Meta, Google, Amazon, and Netflix.

“Comcast’s move for ITV is causing nervousness among media watchers, with specific worry for news provision.”

However, the potential £1.6bn acquisition of ITV’s television business and streaming service, which would end 70 years of self-rule, is full of regulatory, political, and competition concerns.

Immediately, Comcast would control Sky News and ITV News—including its sprawling regional news operation—and become the biggest shareholder in ITN, which produces news for ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5.

While Comcast’s 40% stake in ITN would not be a controlling stake—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 commercial broadcasters.

“If a deal goes through, 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 promised to keep funding Sky News for a decade, upping its funding annually in line with inflation, as part of its 2018 takeover of Sky. As that assurance draws closer to ending, concerns have been raised about whether the US company will continue to completely finance Sky News, which has an annual budget of £100m but is thought to make losses of as much as £80m.

It is thought that any deal to buy ITV would include guarantees 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 clearly questions about diversity of voice,” 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 wield power... I would hope Comcast realise ways of solving these problems.”

Pressure on Public Service

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 snapped up by US corporations.

Recently, Ofcom published a report warning that public service television, such as news provision and UK-focused content, risks becoming an “threatened entity” as viewers migrate to US online platforms and streamers.

The watchdog also revealed data showing that YouTube had exceeded 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.

A Call for Collaboration

There are those who believe that a Sky takeover of ITV, against the context of the viewer shift to mostly US digital companies, signals the need for closer collaboration 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 key national priority. I think the government needs to work out how the boards of the PSBs have a new part to their remits that compels 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.

Regulatory Hurdles

Any deal will necessitate an investigation by the UK competition watchdog. Sky is hoping the regulator will widen the scope of the ad market to include the impact of giants like YouTube and Facebook.

“I think it will get passed,” 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.”

The Precarious Position of Channel 4 and the BBC

Channel 4, which relies on advertising for the vast majority of its income, now faces a weakened 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 inherent financial issue,” says Patrick Barwise, an emeritus professor at London Business School. “Channel 4 has repeatedly beaten the predictions, but that is just postponing the problem. It’s now beginning to run out of road.”

The evolving situation highlights a broader conundrum for British media: how to maintain a independent voice and a healthy public service ecosystem in an progressively globalised and digitally dominated landscape.