I’m A Celebrity broadcaster ITV could be sold as Britain’s terrestrial TV empire crumbles.
Shares surged as rumours circulated that private equity firm CVC Capital Partners was looking to team up with other bidders for a slice of the commercial giant.
Like its state-run BBC counterpart ITV has been rocked by scandal but has traditionally always been able to rely on eye-watering advertising revenue streams.
Yet an ageing audience and less reliable advertisers has seen share values plummet 42% in three years.
It means an uncertain future for a channel that has pumped out mass market formats including This Morning, I’m a Celebrity..Get me Out of Here, and Love Island.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “A depressed valuation and relative weakness in sterling are the context for reports of bid interest in ITV – with the possibility of yet another domino falling in a UK market which has seen plenty of mergers and acquisitions this year.”
“Several names from private equity and within the industry have been suggested as potential suitors – although nothing has emerged yet which has reached the threshold required for ITV to make any disclosures.
“Whether ITV’s public service broadcasting remit might be an obstacle to any deal remains to be seen.”
ITV is home to long-running household favourites, including soap opera Coronation Street, and whose production arm ITV Studios is behind Disney+ hit Rivals starring David Tennant. It is valued at £2.5billion.
Private equity giant CVC Capital Partners is exploring a deal for ITV with a European broadcaster, according to industry insiders.
The crisis engulfing traditional TV comes after BBC chair Samir Shah admitted the financial challenge facing the corporation was stark, saying that over the past decade it had lost 30% of its income.
Just 46% of the population now watches BBC news or current affairs programming in any given week, a figure disproportionately propped up by older age groups. Some 96% of people aged 55 and over regularly use BBC services.
It is increasingly struggling to compete against global media giants like Disney, Netflix, Apple, Amazon, and Hulu which have become the go-to channels for a young, upwardly mobile audience on the move.
The licence fee is guaranteed until December 31, 2027, but the future of the broadcaster is in question.
Unlike the previous Tory government, Labour backs the BBC’s funding model but there are fears the hated licence fee could cost almost £200 by the end of the decade.
Director-general Tim Davie said the BBC was facing “considerable financial and market challenges” and admitted it was right to ask questions about its future “in a world that is now full of choice”.
