Caroline McCall, CEO of UK giant ITV, discussed the opportunities that will come for her team during the FIFA World Cup. At an industry gathering in London on Thursday, she also said that ITV remained “very actively engaged in discussions” with Sky over a potential mega deal.
Sky is in discussions with UK television giant ITV over the potential acquisition of ITV’s Media and Entertainment (M&E) business. “We will update the market in due course,” ITV said last month after the talks were first revealed in November. The unit includes ITV’s commercial free-to-air TV channels in the UK, as well as its own ITVX streaming platform. Following a potential deal, ITV Studios will continue as an independent company.
When asked about this potential reduction in the monitoring and evaluation arm at the Enders TMT Life Leaders conference in the British capital, McCall said: “Reduction is a bad word,” indicating that she would use a different phrase for the strategy behind the potential deal. But it also highlighted that it cannot discuss a potential merger as talks continue.
Meanwhile, the upcoming FIFA World Cup is a major opportunity for ITV. McCall mentioned an app for fans to interact differently and in new ways with audiences in addition to live streaming and traditional TV broadcasts. “Of course, we will receive millions,” the CEO concluded, sampling what other ITV channels have to offer in terms of programming.
The ITV CEO also praised both ITV Studios and the Monitoring and Evaluation Unit for a good performance. “We are generating significant amounts of cash,” she said, thanks in particular to monitoring and evaluation work. She highlighted: “We have improved everything we do” in monitoring and evaluation, to support areas, such as linear TV, that have been disrupted. It also noted that ITV Studios should have a higher equity multiple based on comparisons.
Earlier on the conference day, Comcast’s European television and telecommunications business, Sky, was in the spotlight, as group CEO Dana Strong took the Enders stage. She was not asked about the potential takeover of part of ITV.
