Member Info for BigEgo

Https://www.universalads.com/

“For decades, television advertising has been the preserve of brands with deep pockets and a media agency on retainer.

From today that changes. Comcast’s Universal Ads, the self-service platform built for the premium TV industry, has launched in the UK in partnership with Channel 4, ITV and Sky, opening the medium to the small and medium-sized businesses that have long watched from the sidelines.”

Https://bmmagazine.co.uk/in-business/universal-ads-uk-launch-sme-tv-advertising/

Piece going out in the Sunday Telegraph tomorrow:

PM may force social media to promote public service news

By Dominic Penna

SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

Sir Keir Starmer is to prioritise the BBC in a new crackdown on private media companies.

Public service broadcasters will have their news content made more prominent on social media under plans to be brought forward by Labour in the coming days.

Sir Keir’s push against “disinformation” puts the Government on a fresh collision course with tech giants already frustrated over its wider social media proposals.

The Government is this week expected to launch a consultation on new rules that would boost content from BBC, ITV and Channel 4 on platforms such as Facebook and YouTube.

Sources at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said that the proposals would make it easier for people to “discover trusted news sources” while using social media.

ITV May Debrief published (safe download link)

Https://6c3150d3-c56f-42ec-a731-166c3c0e09cf.usrfiles.com/ugd/b3e753_1958a17a9fa64d539ebb2d0b5f2e0001.pdf

This seems more vocal and actionable than any prior stiff comments.

"(Kelly Williams) continued: “I should say at this point, as soon as we do have news we can share, we’ll be contacting our customers directly.”"

Https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/news/itv-launches-new-interactive-ad-format-for-precision-targeting-in-manchester-and-more-revealed-on-the-active-sky-sale-talks/

what this is also doing - is putting “itv” into the minds of us media execs…

“love island usa’ season 8 continues ratings hot streak”

“love island usa is once again the show of the summer.

season 8 has come out of the gate with 2.3b minutes viewed through its first two weeks, up 50% from season 7, per preliminary nielsen data. this makes it the no. 1 series on streaming for the weeks of june 1 and june 8.”

https://deadline.com/2026/06/love-island-usa-season-8-ratings-growth-pea****-1236960343/

Https://www.itv.com/presscentre/media-releases/itvs-fifa-world-cup-2026-england-match-coverage-peaks-154-million-viewers

“Rivals’ Season 3 Is a Go at Disney+, Hulu”

Produced by Happy Prince, part of ITV Studios

Https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/rivals-season-3-disney-plus-hulu-12-episodes-official-1236623017/

Full text is on advfn forum at archive link for the curious.

Might be worth a read - can anyone access paywall?

“Financial Times 2 hours ago — After marking its 70th birthday last year, it may be about to strike a deal to sell its TV channels and streaming service to Sky, owned by the ...”

Https://www.ft.com/content/68bfca3c-d7e7-43c2-a36f-1519d9eca264

“Dept Of Justice: merger not likely to harm competition or consumers”

Https://news.sky.com/story/paramount-takeover-of-warner-bros-wont-harm-competition-or-consumers-doj-says-13553573

Check this out. :)

https://i.postimg.cc/L600QH0Y/20260612-ITV-Wedge.png

Ok so this is the entire June price action.

ITV is caught in a very clear symmetrical/contracting wedge (triangle) pattern that has built since start of June. Note the width of the oscillations have decreased as price gets squeezed between the bounds. This thing is coiled to breakout in either direction before or around the convergence point Tuesday 16th June.

Https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/broadcasting/x-and-itv-kick-off-behind-the-scenes-world-cup-series/5217616.article

"The World Cup will be the most lucrative sports event ITV has ever aired, the broadcaster has said, with bosses calling the tournament a “six-week summer Super Bowl moment” for TV advertising."

Https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/11/itv-world-cup-super-bowl-tv-advertising

Hi Mike,

If they also take ITV Studios, Comcast would own the biggest pay-TV platform, the biggest commercial free-to-air broadcaster, and the dominant production house in the UK. The regulatory hurdles would delay the deal for years, or kill it entirely. By leaving Studios behind, Comcast gives regulators an easier decision. And they can always bid for it later once the dust settles on the first deal :)

imagine being a comcast executive looking this weekend at the stats that your most watched program is made by … itv studios.

“‘love island usa’ season 8 is pea****’s most-watched tv debut ever, with 23% of viewership on phones and tablets“

https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/love-island-usa-season-8-ratings-pea****-1236768282/

season 8 of “love island usa” has achieved the most-watched debut for an original season of television ever on pea****.

the season, which premiered on june 2 and has released three episodes so far, has reached a total of 824 million minutes watched, according to first-party data from nbcuniversal. that’s a 74% increase compared to the initial three-day total of season 7 — which aired in 2025 and was itself a big viewership draw for pea**** — and outpaces the three-day viewership of any series pea**** has ever debuted.

(pea**** is an american subscription video on demand streaming service owned and operated by nbcuniversal, a subsidiary of comcast.)

“HOW INVESTING IN THE WORLD CUP RUNNER-UP HAS BEEN A WINNING STRATEGY HISTORICALLY”

Https://www.ajbell.co.uk/group/news/how-investing-world-cup-runner-has-been-winning-strategy-historically

Comcast's European Strategy is running hot in June.

The timing looks as good as it's ever been... will they shoot & score before 10th?

01 June: Comcast announce completion of deal to sell Sky Deutschland to RTL

03 June: Comcast announce Universal UK Theme Park including £1.3bn UK Gov pledge

?? June: Comcast announce Sky ... ITV M&E ...

10 June: Comcast 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders

11 June: World Cup Starts

ITV Institutional ownership hits high of 94% with general public (retail) shaken out to a new low of just 3.92%

May updates show many increases in top 10 such as:

RWC rises from 9.14% to 9.21%

Blackrock from 7.38% to 7.6%

Schroder 7.09% to 7.5%

Artemis 5.5% to 6.74%

Https://simplywall.st/stocks/gb/media/lse-itv/itv-shares/ownership

UK Gov commits to £1.3 billion of government funding to help new theme park project with Universal Studios (owned by Comcast)

Intuitively this makes it more likely the UK Gov won’t block Comcast’s ITV deal, with huge investment and jobs on the line.

https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2026-06-03/universal-studios-theme-park-could-become-uks-most-popular-tourist-attraction