Sky and ITV’s Merger: What It Means for Advertisers

Ryan Zhao

15 July 2026

Scale looks like a win for advertisers. The CTV vs. VOD lines are still moving. And the playbook for who wins is still being written.

The deal

Announced on the 6th July, the CEO of Sky, Dana Strong, posted on LinkedIn that Sky was buying ITV’s M&E business for £1.6 billion. Sending shudders throughout the TV world, Strong reassured viewers that this merger will have “no impact on their favourite shows.”

For advertisers, the unification signalled a channel with over 40M weekly viewers and an 18.3% combined TV/streaming viewing share, just behind the UK’s YouTube viewing share (18.6%). With CTV becoming more of a stronghold in the TV space, this merger could be a potential response to consumer behaviour shifting toward SVOD platforms like Netflix, Prime and Disney+. The unification has highlighted the opportunity for more granular targeting data and an expansive, multi-genre inventory.

Why scale isn’t the same as opportunity

One integrated buying point could reduce complexity, giving smaller brands more control over their own strategy. Meanwhile, bigger houses can invest more heavily in creative innovation, which is a budget smaller brands can’t always match. But control over strategy is its own kind of advantage, and it’s not one that scale can automatically buy you.

However, this scale does not equal opportunity. With more integrated inventory, it doesn’t automatically mean more room to experiment. With this scale, only brands that have deep existing agency/media relationships can keep pushing distinctive TV formats, while brands without that depth may get steered towards safer, template-fitting creative and media placements.

The agency gap

For agencies, this unification asks them to really “get to know” how Sky and ITV will combine in the next few months. Established agencies may get first sight of the new platform mechanics, and with it, possibly room to absorb costs that others can’t.

But this isn’t a closed game. Smaller, nimbler agencies aren’t tied to maintaining existing platform relationships. They can move faster into the parts of the new proposition that reward sharp thinking: testing new formats early, building first-party data strategies around AdSmart, or advising clients on how TV fits alongside streaming and retail media. The expertise gap here is still being written.

That said, relationship capital still matters. It’s just not the only key option anymore. Agencies without existing Sky or ITV relationships may still face higher CPMs that bigger players can absorb and smaller ones can’t, or find media owners defaulting to buyers who already know how to use the combined inventory well.

Where the opportunity actually is

That gap is real inside Sky-ITV’s inventory specifically, but it isn’t the only inventory that matters. CTV spend in the UK is growing 15-20% year on year, largely through YouTube, Prime and ad-supported Netflix tiers that sit entirely outside this merger. Much of that inventory is bought programmatically rather than negotiated relationship by relationship, meaning a pixel on your site can tie exposure to a sale, campaigns can flex in real time, and targeting draws on your own data rather than a media owner’s. A self-serve model that, while measurement is still catching up, doesn’t demand the relationship depth Sky-ITV’s combined inventory now does.

For smaller brands and first-time TV advertisers, that’s arguably where the near-term opportunity sits. Not fighting for a seat at Sky-ITV’s table, but building presence somewhere the barrier to entry hasn’t caught up yet.

Knowing which side of that line you’re on, and what to do about it, is where the right media partner earns their keep. That’s exactly where Propellernet’s unique relationships across Sky, ITV and the wider CTV space come in – helping clients find their door, whichever side of the line they’re on. If you want to discuss how think could work for you and your brand, get in touch.