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“In former times, the idea of a merger of Sky and ITV would have been anathema. There would have been loud harrumphing over the market share of TV ad sales, with calls for regulatory investigations. It’s early days yet, but the vibe seems to be that such concerns are a quaint reminder of a bygone age, when advertiser choice was limited.”

“We’re about to find out, but it’s probable that 2025 will be seen as the year the penny dropped and the world got used to a market that is irrevocably in the hands of Silicon Valley, and everywhere else will have to fit around it.”

(Requires free registration)

www.thedrum.com/opinion/why-2025-will-be-remembered-as-the-great-reset-in-media

“Warner Bros Discovery gets mostly cash offer from Netflix, source says”

Https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/warner-bros-discovery-gets-mostly-cash-offer-netflix-source-says-2025-12-01/

“Guess what’s on ITV this Xmas”

Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFrigjP8zQA

“ITV’s mammoth Christmas line-up of over 400 free films”

Https://www.itv.com/presscentre/presscentre/presscentre/media-releases/itv-stars-play-festive-charades-celebrate-mammoth-christmas-line-over-400-free-films

“Falling audiences and fading USP: uncertain future for STV”

Https://cleanfeed.thetvroom.com/23515/opinion/falling-ratings-and-no-usp-does-stv-have-a-future/

Skys Mark Kleinman - article about Channel 4 (also small mention of ITV Sky, nothing new just acknowledging).

“Netflix executive Lloyd screen-tested for top Channel 4 job”

“The public service broadcasting arena will also undergo significant change if a prospective bid by Sky for the television arm of ITV progresses to a definitive transaction.“

Https://news.sky.com/story/netflix-executive-lloyd-screen-tested-for-top-channel-4-job-13476859

Fidelity - Will there be a Santa Rally this year?

“New analysis from Fidelity, spanning three decades of market data, shows that the FTSE 100 has delivered a positive December return in 24 out of 30 years”

Https://www.fidelity.co.uk/markets-insights/markets/global/will-there-be-a-santa-rally-this-year/

Bloomberg Evening Briefing - Americas Edition

Trading is over for the month of November and the biggest losers appear to be those bearish folk who bet big on a widely anticipated tech-bubble blowout. It didn’t happen (some don’t think there’s a bubble at all), and as markets ended a truncated trading day higher, it became clear just how wrong they were.

It wasn’t just stocks that rose. After a bumpy stretch marked by fears of bloated valuations, wild speculation and artificial intelligence overpromising, bonds, commodities and even Bitcoin advanced this week in one of the strongest cross-asset rallies of the year.

The week’s moves echo recent cycles in which big bouts of turbulence ended up as a buying opportunity. Whipped up by valuation concerns and rising US unemployment, the Cboe Volatility Index touched its highest level since April just two weeks ago. Yet, through it all, money never stopped flowing into risk assets.

“‘Don’t fight the Fed and don’t fight AI’ remains the market mantra,” Barclays strategist Emmanuel Cau said. “Stocks and all the liquidity-driven markets have rebounded with the probability of a Fed cut in December, while concerns about an AI bubble have abated.”

Things are looking a lot more positive suddenly.

We are seeing strong volume on up days.

Tue 25/11 9.7m on book, on close changing from prior 77.9 to 80.35

Wed 26/11 9.1m on book, on close changing from prior 80.35 to 81.25

Thu 27/11 12.6m on book, on close changing from prior 81.25 to 82.45

That’s a steadily rising +5.8% across 3 trading days.

Such fun.

Https://shorttracker.co.uk/company/GB0033986497/

Another tiny change in the right direction 25 Nov

Https://shorttracker.co.uk/company/GB0033986497/

3% up is a strong day!

Can’t just be a divi reinvestment boost…

All we need now is a Wednesday Budget kick in the nuts Liberty style!

“If” it happens we will own a pure Studios play with lots of spare cash in the bank.

And a studio that produces high quality English language content which is in heavy demand globally.

There are already analyst comments and articles out there suggesting such an entity would be an instant takeover target with the legacy linear business and public sector liabilities / regulations finally stripped away.

I would continue to hold personally! But a total valuation of £4.5bn + or 120p + would make me reconsider!

Question on ADVFN: So when the £1.6 Billion sale goes through, anybody anticipating a special divided?

My thoughts:

The £1.6bn isn’t baked in - it may never happen of course, but there is also the possibility it changes if the deal does finalise eg £1.5bn, £1.8bn who knows.

We also don’t know how much of the current group debt might be settled in any deal..

But yeah at £1.6bn with 3.75bn shares in issue it’s worth about 42p a share plainly.

We also don’t know what McCall would want to do with that pot. Acquire more studios to grow the remaining business seems likely - but perhaps not using all of it so yeah definitely scope for a special dividend.

The ITV board actually have a history of issuing special one time dividends:

2012 4p, 2013 4p, 2014 6.25p, 2015 10p, 2016 5p

So we could speculate eg a 10p special dividend (which at £37.5m per p would use £375m of the proceeds) with the rest going into growth/acquisitions.

Please no Comcast/Sky news over the weekend, I (and probably many others) want to reinvest our dividends on Tuesday!

Please keep selling until then ;)

The already anticipated ‘2026 effect’ could be even better for ITV now, with this additional attention - this isn’t just about Scottish eyes, large numbers of English fans will watch more games now.

“Scotland at the World Cup! How much of a boost will this bring to the UK ad market?“

“What difference does Scotland make? This is a rare event; not since 1998 has the Tartan Army featured in the world’s biggest sporting tournament.”

Https://omaroakes.substack.com/p/scotland-at-the-world-cup-how-much

More good news! ITV Studios is in pole position to benefit from this.

“Traditional U.S. Networks Swoop For British TV As Content Sales Top $1B For First Time”

Https://deadline.com/2025/11/american-networks-streamers-british-show-sales-soar-1236621257/

Quite a statement by this minister!

Also interesting as the UK Gov potentially looks at Sky News / ITN News

Https://deadline.com/2025/11/fox-news-favored-bbc-news-british-public-ian-murray-1236622310/

Bid speculation aside, ITV just keeps doing what it does best.

Netflix gets a gameshow - made by Rollercoaster Television (part of ITV Studios).

Https://deadline.com/2025/11/whats-in-the-box-netflix-premiere-neil-patrick-harris-1236621030

Comcast’s US plans could be at risk from surprise new Warner Bros Discovery bidder if true (the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) who were recently part of a consortium acquiring Electronic Arts (EA) for $55 billion in an all-cash deal).

Https://cosmicbook.news/saudis-one-signature-away-buying-wbd-producer

Yes, regardless of anyone here’s own valuation for the parts of the business - Redwheel have substantial ‘skin in the game’ as ITVs largest shareholder - so we should all be paying attention to what they think each part is worth.

This helps us understand where they might be prepared to exit. And it’s a LOT higher than the current market cap!!!