Love Productions

Love Productions is a British television production company best known as the maker of The Great British Bake Off, one of the most-watched formats in UK television history. In June 2026, the company's corporate home became the subject of industry attention when Sky and ITV agreed terms for Sky to acquire ITV's Media and Entertainment Arm for £1.6 billion; Love Productions moves to ITV Studios, the production Arm that stays outside the deal, meaning the company and its flagship format remain under ITV Group ownership rather than transferring to Sky.

Founded in 2004 by television producer Pat Llewellyn, Love Productions launched The Great British Bake Off in 2010 on BBC Two, where it ran for six series before a controversial move to Channel 4 in 2017 in a deal reputedly worth more than £75 million annually. The BBC retained Paul Hollywood as a judge but the format restarted on Channel 4 with a new presenting team. ITV acquired Love Productions in 2020, integrating it into its production-company portfolio ahead of the later ITV Studios restructuring. The company produces other factual-entertainment titles, though The Great British Bake Off remains its defining commercial asset.

Love Productions illustrates the structural logic of the UK's current broadcast consolidation: production companies and their format libraries are valued separately from broadcasting and distribution rights, allowing deals to be structured so that content creation remains within one ownership group while distribution assets change hands. As Sky's acquisition of ITV's channels and ITVX proceeds through Ofcom and CMA scrutiny, Love Productions' continued presence within ITV Studios underscores how format IP is treated as a distinct, protected asset class in large-scale UK media transactions.