ITV’s decision to no longer explore a deal for Gogglebox producer All3Media “makes sense” according to analysts at Citigroup.
Analysts at the bank acknowledged that All3Media is an unusual asset in size and would push ITV down its path of becoming less reliant on linear TV advertising.
However, the bank believes “it is not sufficiently unique that it would be worth stretching ITV’s balance sheet at a time of peak investment in the streaming business and peak uncertainty on advertising outlook”.
“This doesn’t mean that further M&A in content production at a later date might not make sense, but overall we think it is sensible for ITV to keep its powder dry for now,” said the broker.