The UK Minister for Culture, Lisa Nandy, is considering subjecting Sky’s planned takeover of ITV’s broadcasting and streaming business to an in-depth review in the public interest. The focus is on the potential impact on the diversity of opinion in the news media, as well as on the breadth and quality of the programming on offer.

On 6 July, Sky announced its intention to acquire ITV Media and Entertainment Holdings for up to 1.6 billion pounds. The transaction includes the free-to-air ITV channels and the ITVX streaming platform, but does not include the ITV Studios production business.

Nandy believes there are grounds to examine whether the merger could undermine the diversity of news providers and the number of independent media regulators. Furthermore, she intends to take the availability of high-quality and diverse programming – including on streaming services – into account as a criterion for assessing the public interest. This would require an amendment to the UK Media Act, whose current provisions on programming are primarily geared towards linear television.

Sky and ITV have until 20 October to respond to the concerns. A final decision on whether to take formal action has not yet been made. Should Nandy initiate an investigation, the media regulator Ofcom and the competition authority CMA would examine the merger.