Comcast
US media and telecoms conglomerate; owner of Sky and NBCUniversal; agreed £1.6bn acquisition of ITV's broadcast division on 25 June 2026.
Comcast confirmed on 23 July 2026 it will spin off Sky and its NBCUniversal cable networks into an independent public company within a year, as its Sky subsidiary awaits Ofcom and CMA approval for its roughly £1.6bn deal to buy ITV's broadcast arm, agreed 25 June.
Last refreshed: 28 July 2026 · Appears in 2 active topics
Does a Sky-ITV deal give Comcast a near-dominant AI production platform across UK commercial broadcasting?
Timeline for Comcast
Mentioned in: Marking code draws 190, none of them TV
Media's AI PivotEntered an appearance over sealed material
Media's AI Pivot: Comcast and Dish enter the Paramount caseMentioned in: Sky hires for a group-wide AI function
Media's AI PivotConfirmed it will separate its Media division into an independent public company
Media's AI Pivot: Comcast cuts Sky and cable networks looseAttributed $440m of Q2 2026 revenue to the World Cup
2026 FIFA World Cup: Comcast puts $440m on the World CupBackground
Comcast is the largest US cable-TV operator by revenue and the parent of NBCUniversal (NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, Universal Pictures, Universal Parks) and Sky (Sky UK, Sky Italy), acquired in 2018 for $39bn after a contested bidding process with 21st Century FOX. Headquartered in Philadelphia, its Xfinity platform is one of the largest US cable and broadband providers.
The company's UK broadcasting position and its planned corporate restructuring are now its most consequential media decisions: the Sky-ITV consolidation would test Ofcom's media-plurality rules under the Broadcasting Act, given BSkyB's 2010 attempt to take a minority ITV stake was blocked on the same grounds, while the Media-division spin-off separates Sky and NBCUniversal's cable assets from Comcast's core broadband and theme-park business.
Comcast moves to spin off Sky
Comcast's Sky subsidiary and ITV agreed terms on 25 June for Sky to buy ITV's Media and Entertainment Arm, comprising its linear channels and ITVX, for roughly £1.6bn; the deal was formally signed on 6 July and now awaits Ofcom and CMA review . Together with Sky, that would give Comcast control of both of the UK's largest commercial broadcasters under one parent.
Comcast confirmed on its 23 July earnings call that it will separate the whole Media division, holding Sky and the NBCUniversal cable networks, into an independent public company within roughly a year, with Michael Angelakis brought back to oversee the split . The ITV deal would close inside the spun-off entity, not the parent.