Nandy triggers PIIN: Sky's ITV takeover faces dual regulator review

UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has issued a Public Interest Intervention Notice (PIIN) against Sky's proposed acquisition of ITV Media & Entertainment Holdings Ltd, handing formal scrutiny to two regulators on a 27 January 2027 deadline. The Competition and Markets Authority will examine jurisdiction and competition; Ofcom will weigh media plurality. The clock starts now.

The intervention, confirmed in a written parliamentary statement dated 4 November 2026, follows a 15 October letter in which Nandy told Sky UK Limited and ITV plc she was minded to act under the Enterprise Act 2002. The companies got their chance to argue. She wasn't persuaded.

"Having fully considered their representations, I have decided to issue a Public Interest Intervention Notice," Nandy said. Her stated concern: public interest considerations under section 58 of the Act may be relevant to the merger and "warrant further investigation."

What does Ofcom actually have to assess?

The PIIN directs Ofcom to three existing plurality tests:

• The need for free expression of opinion in news media.
• A sufficient plurality of views in news media across the UK, or any part of it.
• A sufficient plurality of persons controlling media enterprises serving every audience, nationally or locally.

Standard fare for a UK broadcasting deal, in other words. The less standard part comes next.

Why is the streaming test unusual?

Nandy has also intervened on a public interest ground that is not currently in the Act — the availability, throughout the UK, of a wide range of high-quality broadcasting and on-demand programmes calculated to appeal to a wide variety of tastes and interests.

The legislation already covers high-quality, wide-ranging broadcasting. It says nothing about on-demand. Nandy wants that gap closed, and she frames it as a matter of viewing habits: the existing consideration, she argues, should be modified to cover on-demand "in line with modern viewing habits and my specific concerns regarding this merger."

She's not stopping at the merger file. Under section 42 of the Act, the Secretary of State can add public interest considerations to an intervention notice. Nandy has used that power here, and she has committed to go further: "I will bring forward legislation which amends section 58 of the Act to extend the application of the public interest consideration relating to the availability of a wide range of broadcasting, to on-demand programmes."

In practice, one deal has prompted a rewrite of the UK's media merger test. That's the part of this story with the longest shelf life.

What happens on 27 January 2027?

Both regulators must report to the Culture Secretary by that date. Once the reports land, Nandy decides whether to refer the deal for a fuller CMA investigation under section 45 of the Act. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport will update Parliament after it has received and considered both reports.

Decision letters to the parties and further updates will appear on GOV.UK.

One door Nandy has left closed, for now, is the foreign state route. On the evidence available, she does not consider her duty to issue a Foreign State Intervention Notice has arisen. The caveat matters: if new information suggests the arrangements could create a foreign state newspaper merger situation, she is obliged to refer the deal to the CMA under section 70A of the Act.

What does this mean for Sky and ITV?

The deal now sits in the standard Westminster pipeline: PIIN, dual regulator reports, then a referral decision. The non-standard element is the legislative tail. If Nandy's amendment to section 58 passes, every future media merger in the UK will be tested against on-demand plurality, not just broadcast — a framework change that would outlive this transaction regardless of its outcome.

For Sky, owned by Comcast, and ITV plc, the immediate task is simpler: make their case to two regulators before 27 January. The broader question — whether a combined Sky-ITV streaming and broadcast business squeezes the range of what UK viewers can watch — is now formally on the government's books.