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The possibility of Comcast taking over ITV has prompted apprehensions about the consequences on the UK's public service broadcasting, a situation that the broadcaster's new CEO, joining from a senior post at Sky, will be acutely aware of.

Sky’s commercial director, Priya Dogra, will now be tasked to spearhead efforts to block her ex-company's acquisition bid to safeguard Channel 4.

The envisaged combination of Sky and ITV’s TV business would leave Channel 4 a relative commercial minnow in the realm of TV and digital ad sales, reviving talk of the need to re-examine some form of tie-up with the BBC for future viability.

Foremost Worry: The Future of News

However, it is the possible consequences on the future of news output that are causing the most present anxiety for many within the television industry.

The unexpected announcement last month that Comcast, which controls assets including Universal Studios and purchased Rupert Murdoch’s Sky for £30bn in 2018, makes commercial sense. Traditional broadcasters are facing a profound survival challenge as audiences and revenues continue to swiftly shift to global digital players such as Meta, Google, Amazon, and Netflix.

“Comcast’s move for ITV is causing trepidation among media watchers, with especial focus 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 laden with regulatory, political, and competition concerns.

Overnight, Comcast would control Sky News and ITV News—including its extensive 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 dominant share—other shareholders include the owner of the Daily Mail, Thomson Reuters, and Informa—it would still be heavily involved in the news output of most of the main non-BBC broadcasters.

“If a deal goes through, the fate of ITN is an interesting one that will focus minds politically,” notes 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 assurance draws closer to concluding, 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 make losses of as much as £80m.

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

“There are certainly questions about media diversity,” 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 assert control... I would hope Comcast understand ways of solving these problems.”

An Endangered Model

British TV executives have previously cautioned about 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.

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, heralds the need for closer cooperation 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 compels them to collaborate.”

Given that advertisers follow eyeballs, a combination of Sky and ITV could create a British TV and streaming giant, 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 trigger an investigation by the UK competition watchdog. Sky is hoping the regulator will broaden the definition 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.”

Structural Challenges 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 outperformed forecasts, but that is just delaying the inevitable. It’s now beginning to reach its limits.”

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