ITV Bosses On Labor Strikes And Walking Away From $1.3B All3Media Deal

deadline.com:

ITV bosses have provided color on how the U.S. labor strikes are impacting the UK broadcaster and why they walked away from a £1B ($1.3B) deal to acquire The Traitors production group All3Media.

On a call with journalists this morning, ITV Studios CEO Julian Bellamy said the writers and actors strikes would not have “a material impact” on his production and sales division’s 2023 financials, stressing the division produces across genres in multiple territories. “Saying that, if the strike goes into the autumn, it will potentially impact on the start of [ITV Studios] productions” in the U.S., he added. “Obviously, we’re hoping for a swift resolution.” Bellamy was asked if U.S.

networks had approached ITV Studios, which has a catalog of about 90,000 hours, to help fill scheduling gaps created by the strikes. “We’re not seeing that,” he responded. “We work with them all the time on originals, coproduction and licensing but we’re not seeing a huge spike on that front.” However, ITV Studios’ 90,000-hour catalog meant it was “in a good position to take advantage” should such talks begin, he said elsewhere during the call.

ITV CEO Carolyn McCall added: “We’ll be talking to see if we can help people fill their schedules. We’re not going to be charging a premium — we should be offering our customers [content] from our catalog if they require it.” The WGA strike is now into its 87th day, while SAG-AFTRA action began two weeks ago today, with no end appearing to be in sight for either.