Comcast, Walmart, and eBay all make big business moves this week.
Comcast owned Sky will buy ITV’s broadcast and streaming unit – with ITV acquiring “The Great British Bake Off” producer, Love Productions, as part of the deal, according to Reuters.
The deal is said to be worth £1.6bn, and is now being finalised, reports confirm. The total transaction value (including the Love Production acquisition) could be between £80mn and £120mn – and the payout would likely be dependent on the ITV unit’s performance, but could be up to £200mn.
Shares for ITV rose 2.9% after the deal was announced, bringing the market value of the production company to roughly £3.1bn.
Sky has pledged to spend £2bn on ITV’s studios in the next five years, helping to protect popular TV shows like Love Island, Coronation Street, and I’m a Celebrity….. Get Me Out of Here!
Leaders take
It’s a huge shame that a stalwart British broadcasting company has been engulfed by an American firm – it seems almost inevitable that the company will retain its ‘Britishness’ and sense of identity whilst operating within the larger Comcast network.
It’s likely that Comcast is looking to compete with streaming giants like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney +, as Comcast already owns streaming service Peacock, as well as Sky and NBC.
My concern would be primarily in the ITV sports division, as ITV often bids for the broadcast rights for Rugby Union matches, football matches, horse racing, and motorsport – which would surely be a welcome acquisition for Sky Sports. This might leave viewers forced to pay for extra channels with Sky rather than watch the free ITV service.
The £2bn pledged by Sky to help protect ITV is welcome, but a very short-term patch. That being said, ITV’s online platform, ITVX is infamous for its poor layout and laggy service – so if Comcast can fix that first, then there would be at least a small silver lining!
Comcast to spin off media operation
That’s not all for Comcast this week. Comcast has announced that it will be spinning off its own media operation, including Sky, Universal Pictures film studio, NBC, NBC news, Peacock, and the theme park division, NBCUniversal.
This will leave Comcast to focus on broadband, cable, and wireless services for residential and business customers – leaving the spin off, NBCUniversal, to handle media and television.
Leaders take
This spin off could help protect ITV shows and audiences, with a dedicated media division set to operate independently of the remaining Comcast business.
That being said, much of the new organisation will be US-based, and could struggle to capture the spirit of ITV’s British roots. While some British shows have seen successful US spin offs (such as Love Island), there have been a whole host of failed US reboots that fail to capture the essence of the show and its audience.
Walmart agrees to acquire Vibe.co
Vibe.co and Walmart have entered an agreement that will see Walmart acquire the streaming and CTV ad platform.
This deal will look to put Walmart in a better position to help smaller and medium sized businesses for its Walmart Connect commerce media business – with full funnel ad solutions combined with Vibe.co’s self-serve CTV platform.
“Walmart Connect is focused on making commerce media more accessible, more measurable and easier to activate for advertisers of all sizes,” said Ryan Mayward, senior vice president at Walmart Connect U.S.
“Vibe.co has created a purpose-built platform that simplifies streaming TV advertising, and together, we can help more businesses connect with customers across streaming environments while measuring the impact of those campaigns through Walmart’s commerce capabilities.”
Leaders take
Vibe once called itself the “Google Ads of streaming”, and generated $100mn in annual recurring revenue last year. One source claims that the company’s valuation could hit over $1bn, DigiDay reports.
With global social media bans for teens and children, streaming platforms could see themselves at the epicentre of marketing for young people – and Walmart’s investment in Vibe.co seems to have come at a perfect time.
The combination of Vibe’s vast user base of SMEs with Walmart’s huge commerce datasets and measurement capabilities will likely make this a formidable ecomm partnership.
Other notable deals
GameStop is set on pursuing a takeover offer despite eBay rejection.
A takeover bid for eBay from GameStop for roughly $56bn as a cash-and-stock offer was rejected – but the videogame retailer insists it will continue to pursue a deal.
Meta has been asked to explore relationships with Kalshi, Polymarket
Meta chief executive officer, Mark Zuckerberg, has asked his senior executives to look into partnerships with prediction platforms Polymarket and Kalshi as Meta looks to build a similar prediction app.
