ITV sets sights on BT Sport tie-up to take on streamers

ITV is in talks about striking a partnership deal with BT Sport but has ruled out a full takeover of the pay-tv sports channel.

Dame Carolyn Mccall, ITV chief executive, said it was eyeing a joint venture with BT as she stressed the importance of live sport to its fight against the streaming giants.

The Daily Telegraph revealed in April that ITV was among a string of suitors – including the sports streaming service DAZN – after BT appointed bankers to explore potential partnerships for the channel.

Dame Carolyn said: “We have a good relationship with BT and BT Sport in particular, and we do constantly talk to them about how we might collaborate and cooperate. Those discussions are ongoing.

“We are not in the market for that kind of acquisition. We’ve been focused on our balance sheet and we still see uncertainty ahead, but collaboration and cooperation with BT Sport, absolutely.”

However, she remained tight-lipped about the prospect of merging the Love

Island broadcaster with Channel 4 despite ministers privately encouraging ITV to consider a deal.

Meanwhile, ITV said it would resume shareholder payments as an advertising rebound helped it “emerge from the worst effects of the pandemic”.

Shares closed down 1.6pc at 117.8p even though it revealed plans to bring back a 3.3p final dividend at this year’s full-year results if the “economy continues to recover”.

Revenue rose 27pc to £1.5bn for the six months to the end of June as “advertising rebounded strongly”. Pre-tax profits rose from £15m to £133m.

Advertising revenue climbed 29pc over the period, helped by ITV ad sales for June hitting a record high driven by easing restrictions and Euro 2020.

♦the UK advertising industry is poised for the fastest recovery from the pandemic of any European market. Ad spend is expected to rebound from its Covid-induced crash to expand by a record 18.2pc to £27.7bn this year, according to the Advertising Association/warc Expenditure Report.