ITV explores options for its production arm, including sale: FT

LONDON: British commercial broadcaster ITV is reviewing the future of its production arm ITV studios, including whether to sell a stake, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

Britain’s biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster has recently fielded expressions of interest in ITV Studios, the report said citing people familiar with the discussions.

Potential buyers include private equity groups and other large independent producers such as Bertelsmann’s Freemantle or FL Entertainment, the parent company of Banijay, the newspaper added.

ITV announced earlier this year, that it is combining its subscription and ad-funded streaming services in ITVX, a new digital platform that will have 15,000 hours of content at launch and a 160 million-pound ($178.72 million) dedicated budget for shows.

ITV did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

In June, this year ITV bought a 79.5% stake in Plimsoll Productions, the maker of natural history programmes like “Hostile Planet” for Disney and “Night on Earth” for Netflix, for 103.5 million pounds($115.61 million) in cash.