ITV chief shrugs off scale concerns
ITV chief executive Carolyn McCall has shrugged off concerns around the impact that a merged Banijay-All3Media will have on ITV Studios.
A deal to bring Banijay and All3Media together was confirmed earlier this week, with the combined entity becoming the world’s largest production group outside of the US.
However, McCall and ITV Studios managing director Julian Bellamy were confident that the merger would not impact ITV Studios’ strength.
“We’re confident we have scale globally and can compete, that’s the key thing,” McCall said when asked if ITVS would consider their own ‘transformative’ deals to compete with their super-indie rival.
“The quality of our library is very strong. It depends what you mean by ‘transformative’. It’s got to be the right price at the right time.
“For us, size isn’t as relevant as labels and talent. Of course, they have those, but we’re confident [in our position]. “We’re not going to do something ‘transformative’ if it isn’t at the right value for ITVS.”
Speaking to journalists following the publication of ITV’s full year results for 2025, McCall added she doesn’t feel the merger “will have in any impact on us”.
“Bear in mind we are probably two and a half times the size of All3Media,” she added. “We need to put it into perspective that All3Media is a good company, but it’s much smaller than I think people realise.”
Reflecting on the deal, McCall suggested cost synergies are the “probably a key driver” for the deal. Banijay has outlined €50m (£44m) of savings in merging with All3.
“It’s a good deal for them, but there’s always been consolidation in this market. ESG and Banijay got together 8 years ago, and ITV Studios has grown by over 40% during that time.”
Bellamy added that ITVS is operating “in a strong market globally”, on which approximately $230bn is spent on content, and that the market plays to ITV Studios’ strengths. He cited marked improvements in businesses such as digital-focused Zoo55, which landed double-digit growth in the full-year results, taking advantage of the fast-growing digital distribution market.
ITV-Sky
ITV bosses were also peppered with questions regarding discussions between Comcast-owned Sky’s potential acquisition of ITV’s media and entertainment division, which comprises the group’s broadcast and streaming operations including ITVX and all its linear channels.
McCall emphasised ITV is “actively engaged” in talks with Sky but remained tight-lipped on further details.
She also reminded that the initial leak that ITV was in preliminary discussions with Sky was “not that long ago,” first revealed in November. When pressed as to whether talks had slowed, McCall added: “Is it taking a long time? No.”
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