ITV is exploring options for its production arm, including selling, reports the Financial Times

Oct 16 (Reuters) – British commercial broadcaster ITV (ITV.L) is considering the future of its ITV production studios, including whether to sell a stake, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

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

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

ITV announced earlier this year that it is combining its subscription and ad-supported streaming services into ITVX, a new digital platform which will have 15,000 hours of content at launch and a dedicated budget of 160 million. pounds ($178.72 million) to emissions.

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 programs like ‘Hostile Planet’ for Disney and ‘Night on Earth’ for Netflix, for 103.5 million pounds ($115.61 million) in cash.

($1 = 0.8953 pounds)

Reporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexandra Hudson

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