Sky is to buy ITV's broadcast and streaming arm for £1.6 billion - but what could it mean for racing coverage?

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With Sky striking a deal to buy the TV and streaming services of ITV for £1.6 billion, the question most people have been asking is – what will happen to the programmes I watch?

For racing fans it is particularly relevant because because ITV has been British racing’s terrestrial broadcast partner since 2017.

Sky and ITV believe the deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, will make them more competitive against big streaming giants such as Netflix, Disney and Amazon.

What is happening?

In the short-term nothing much is expected to happen for viewers of programmes on ITV or Sky.

ITV holds a public broadcasting licence until 2034, which means it must remain free-to-view until that point, as well as providing local, regional and national news coverage.

Both Sky and ITV have placed significant emphasis on covering sport as part of their programming, with ITV the home of the Grand National – protected for terrestrial viewers as a ‘crown jewel’ event.

Will there be any change for ITV Racing?

Anyone turning on ITV Racing from Newmarket this week will see no apparent difference to when watching the Eclipse from Sandown last weekend.

However, in the medium to long term there could be enhancements made to the coverage, or even more racing broadcast on ITV, if Sky’s chief executive Dana Strong is to be believed.

On a briefing call to reporters on Monday, she said: “We want to put more sport into free [to air]. We want to do a range of sport. We think there’s an opportunity there to really drive more fandom and more engagement with, frankly, one of the critical assets the UK has, which is an unbelievable sporting community. 

“We’re all pretty passionate about our sport. We’d love to tap into that by putting more sport on ITV.” 

When is ITV's deal up?

Last year, ITV signed a new four-year contract to broadcast British racing up to the end of 2030.

ITV Racing’s coverage of the sport since 2017 has been generally well received, winning Baftas for its programmes in 2018 and 2023, while last year lead presenter Ed Chamberlin was named Presenter of the Year at the Broadcast Sport Awards.

ITV’s coverage of racing is reliant on striking deals with the sport’s rights-holders, with a number of tracks already broadcast on Sky Sports Racing. How a takeover of ITV by Sky will impact the negotiations with Racecourse Media Group, the parent company of Racing TV, remains to be seen.

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