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Lisa Nandy 'minded to intervene' in Sky's £1.6bn purchase of ITV
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said she is 'minded to intervene' in Sky's £1.6bn purchase of ITV, a formal step that opens the way to deeper scrutiny of a deal creating the UK's biggest commercial broadcaster.
By Haut Monde Post
• October 15, 2026
• 3 Min Read
What Nandy's intervention means
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has said she is "minded to intervene" in the Sky purchase of ITV, a £1.6bn deal she is examining on public interest grounds. Her decision, she said, relates to considerations including free expression of opinion in news media and "a sufficient plurality of views" and of persons with control of media enterprises.
She also cited the need to safeguard the availability of a wide range of broadcasting and on-demand programmes appealing to a wide variety of tastes and interests. The move is a formal part of the takeover process, and the companies have five days to respond.
The deal and what Sky says it will build
Sky announced over the summer that it had agreed a deal to buy ITV's broadcasting and streaming arm. Sky is owned by the US company Comcast, and argues the purchase will let it build a "UK-focused national streaming champion" that can survive in a media world dominated by the largest platforms.
- •Sky agreed over the summer to buy ITV's broadcasting and streaming arm
- •Sky is owned by the US company Comcast
- •Sky frames the deal as creating a national streaming champion able to compete with Netflix, YouTube and Amazon Prime Video
Ofcom and CMA investigations if it proceeds
If Nandy decides to intervene, it would trigger formal investigations into the deal by Ofcom, the media industry regulator, and the Competition and Markets Authority.
Few in the industry believe the deal will ultimately be blocked, pointing to pressure from streamers and audiences shifting to digital platforms such as YouTube.
Precedent: the Paramount–Warner Bros deal
Netflix attempted to buy Warner Bros Discovery before it was eventually bought by Paramount in a $110bn (£85bn) acquisition, with David Ellison, the son of a billionaire tech mogul, at the helm of the resulting company, Skydance.
Nandy also threatened to intervene in that deal, since the UK's Channel 5 is owned by Paramount, but waved it through after securing concessions. Among those undertakings, Channel 5 keeps its public service broadcaster status through to the end of 2034.
Channel 5 News is to stay editorially independent under the guarantees, kept apart from the merger's other news operations, which include CBS News and CNN International.
"minded to intervene"
The companies have five days to respond; if Nandy decides to intervene, Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority would open formal investigations into the deal.
