ITV has given its shareholders a welcome surprise in the form of a $140M share buyback, just days after confirming its historic deal with Sky. This significant move comes as the broadcaster releases its first financial results since the Sky deal was confirmed, which slightly improved on the prior year.
According to the company’s CEO, Carolyn McCall, the share buyback is an ‘early return of part of the previously announced £950 million net cash return expected on completion of the sale’ of its network business to Sky. This news will be a relief to shareholders who may have to wait patiently until at least mid-2027 to see larger returns on the £1.6B deal.
The ITV share price has been a constant source of concern for several years now, and many had been pushing for a sale for a long time. McCall emphasized the separate move to continue with an interim dividend of 1.7p totaling £60M, stating that ‘this reflects our commitment to attractive shareholder returns.’
ITV has stated that it expects the Sky deal to complete midway through next year and that it expects the Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, to issue a Public Intervention Notice to examine one of the biggest deals in the history of British broadcasting. The deal, which will see a crown jewel of British TV become part of the NBCUniversal entertainment empire, is still subject to a rigorous regulatory approval process, coming as Nandy says she is ‘minded to intervene’ in the mega-bucks WarnerMount deal.
The company’s half-year results for the first six months of 2026 were middling, with total revenue rising 2% to £1.9B. ITV Studios revenue also moved to £912M, and M&E revenue increased to £975M. This disrupted the recent pattern of ITV Studios tending to grow by larger proportions than M&E. In fact, adjusted EBITDA in the M&E division rose an impressive 37% to £48M, while ITV Studios’ EBITDA was down 9%, although the period did take in the soccer World Cup, a lucrative time for the ITV network. Ad revenue was up 26%, and digital ad revenue shot up 31%, again probably down to the World Cup.
ITV Studios will soon be unleashed onto the market at a time when rivals Banijay and All3Media have merged, creating a production super-giant. Banijay’s CEO earlier this week played down reports that Banijay is interested in swooping for ITV Studios. At the same time, Sky has committed to spend £2.1B on ITV Studios content between 2028 and 2032, and Sky-owned Great British Bake Off producer Love Productions will be sold to ITV Studios.
Notably, ITV Studios’ revenue in the UK was up 17% during the period but down 17% in the U.S. and 24% internationally, again reflecting a reversal of previous fortunes. Inroads with the American streamers have been one of ITV Studios’ pillars of growth for several years.
ITV Studios has ‘a really strong delivery schedule’ for the second half of this year, it said, including Line of Duty Season 7 for the BBC and another series of The Gentlemen for Netflix.
McCall said: ‘The recently announced sale of M&E to Sky represents a substantial milestone for ITV. This transaction will unlock significant value for shareholders, with a net cash return of around £950 million, excluding any contingent consideration, and continued ownership of an attractive, growing global content business in ITV Studios. Underpinned by its world-class talent, global scale, and unique IP library, ITV Studios is well positioned to deliver above-market profitable organic revenue growth at industry-leading margins, strong cash generation, attractive returns to shareholders, and an investment-grade balance sheet.’
Last year, ITV profits were slashed during the first six months of the year.
