ITV Boss Dodges Sale Question But Says Networks Biz Is Now “Recognized By Shareholders As A Strong Business”

ITV‘s CEO has used her appearance at a leaders conference to talk up the part of her business that could soon be sold to Sky.

Carolyn McCall gave an impassioned talk about why the Media & Entertainment biz, aka ITV channels and streamer ITVX, is “extremely resilient and cash generative.”

The network is “recognized by shareholders as a strong business, not what it was six or seven years ago,” she said. But it is a UK business, she added, exposed to “bumpiness” that is impacted by advertising and lower consumer spending.

While McCall declined comment on the £1.6B ($2.2B) sale to Sky, which is in “active discussions,” she used the opportunity to talk up the ITV network. The network could soon separate from the ITV Studios production-distribution arm, which some see as being more lucrative.

“Media & Entertainment is the platform where things will break, succeed and get sold around the world,” added McCall. “We’ve optimized what we do. The way we work on M&E has changed fundamentally.”

She added that it is “as important to tell your story well to investors as to audiences.”

ITV Studios, McCall added, which would be retained after the deal, is probably the world’s second biggest super-indie behind the newly combined Banijay-All3Media.

In a Q1 trading update a few weeks back, revenue at ITV’s M&E biz declined slightly to £477M, while ITV Studios grew 4% to £400M, with further growth forecast for the latter.

McCall was speaking at the Enders TMT Leaders Live Conference alongside chiefs at Netflix, Disney and WBD.

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