ITV's Kevin Lygo Talks Sky Takeover: "They Didn't Buy It to Rip It Apart"
ITV's managing director Kevin Lygo has offered the clearest picture yet of what life looks like for the broadcaster while Comcast-owned Sky works to complete a £1.6 billion ($2.1 billion) takeover of ITV's Media & Entertainment division — and the short answer is: not much changes, at least not yet.
Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival on 26 August 2026, Lygo said he is "positive" about the deal and that "everybody understands the logic of it," according to Variety. But the legal process governing the acquisition means neither Sky nor ITV can discuss what happens when the deal closes, including its impact on jobs. ITV will continue to operate as a completely separate business until regulators give the green light.
That regulatory clearance could take up to a year. ITV's 2026 half-year report, published 31 July 2026, puts expected completion in the second half of 2027. Sky first announced it had agreed to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment on 5 July 2026, describing the move as creating "a commercial streaming champion for the UK" on its official site. The package includes a £2.1 billion content agreement alongside the purchase price, and would return £950 million in net cash to ITV shareholders. ITV retains ownership of ITV Studios, its production arm.
For the people actually commissioning shows, the timeline is concrete. Lygo said ITV's commissioning strategy for 2027 and most of 2028 will remain unchanged, per Variety. That means scripted, unscripted and format decisions already in the pipeline stay on course — a writers' room greenlit this autumn will still be writing for the same ITV that exists today.
Sky will also have to adhere to ITV's public service broadcasting licence, which runs until 2034. That licence carries obligations including commitments to news output and independent production spend outside London, meaning a new owner cannot simply strip the public-interest requirements from the channel.
What makes Lygo's remarks notable is the tone of controlled optimism from an executive whose own tenure has an expiry date. Deadline reported in July that Lygo will step aside after a decade in the role as part of the deal. He told the Edinburgh audience he expects "gradual, likely backstage changes" after the acquisition, adding that Sky "would not buy the broadcaster to rip it apart," per Variety.
The deal traces back to November 2025, when ITV first announced a possible sale of its Media & Entertainment business to Sky. ITV's 2025 full-year results, published 28 March 2026, noted the companies were still in discussions with no certainty the deal would complete. By the following July, Sky had moved from discussion to agreement.
Sky and ITV also extended a multi-year content and platform partnership in July 2025, and both are part of a joint intent with Channel 4 to launch a premium video advertising marketplace — a collaboration announced 16 June 2025. Those partnerships predate the acquisition talks and remain in place.
For viewers, the practical effect is minimal in the near term. ITV's channels, streaming platform ITVX and production schedule continue as planned. The bigger questions — who runs ITV's commissioning after Lygo, how Sky integrates the broadcaster's advertising and streaming operations, and whether the merged entity competes more aggressively with Netflix and Amazon — all wait for the regulators.
