Sky’s ITV Acquisition Hits Roadblock as Culture Secretary Issues Public Interest Intervention Notice

Sky‘s acquisition of ITV has hit a roadblock as the U.K. culture secretary Lisa Nandy has officially issued an intervention notice.

The issuing of a public interest intervention notice means the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority and media regulatory body Ofcom will both investigate the proposed acquisition. The CMA will scrutinize the deal from a jurisdictional and competition perspective and Ofcom in terms of public interest.

Both bodies have a deadline of Jan. 27 to report back after which Nandy will decide whether to instruct CMA to carry out a more detailed investigation.

Comcast-owned Sky announced earlier this year they were set to acquire public service broadcaster ITV for $2.1 billion. The deal was only for the network and its proprietary streaming platform ITVX, resulting in the spinning off of its production arm, ITV Studios.

Nandy noted she did not see the need to issue a foreign state intervention notice.

“On 15 October 2026 my Department wrote to Sky UK Limited and ITV plc to inform them I was minded to intervene in the anticipated merger between Sky UK Ltd and ITV Media & Entertainment Holdings Ltd under the Enterprise Act 2002 (“the Act”) and inviting them to submit representations. Having fully considered their representations, I have decided to issue a Public Interest Intervention Notice (PIIN),” Nandy has said.