News in brief: ITV Investors Back M&A Talks; Netflix set to Enter Race for Live F1 Rights; OpenAI Makes Super Bowl Debut with $14m Ad
ITV’s major shareholders are in support of efforts to explore a potential deal for its production arm, according to the FT. The broadcaster has reportedly already held early talks with Abu Dhabi-backed investment group RedBird IMI, which acquired All3Media in May 2024. A merger between ITV Studios and All3Media would create a production group worth over £3bn, although there is no certainty of a deal closing between both parties. Last year, the UK government blocked the group from acquiring the Daily Telegraph. Potential deals are also said to be under consideration by private equity groups CVC and Blackstone, as well as Banijay, one of Europe’s biggest production groups.
Netflix is reportedly planning to enter the race for the live streaming rights of Formula One in the US from 2026. The US rights are currently held by ESPN until the end of the 2025 season, but the bidding process for the next seasons are due to begin soon. Securing a deal for F1 rights would give the streaming giant an even stronger hold over the sports sector, already having secured its place as a sports streamer with deals for live streaming rights including WWE Raw.
During Sunday’s Super Bowl game, OpenAI made its debut in TV advertising. Its minute-long ad placement cost the AI giant around USD$14m (£11.30m). The ad avoids explicit mentions of AI so as to not alienate viewers who may not have familiarity with the technology, OpenAI CEO Kate Rouch told The Verge. Amazon still holds the crown for the most expensive Super Bowl ad placement ever aired with a 130 second-long Alexa ad in 2022, which cost USD$26m (£20.98m). Looking back over the entire history of Super Bowl ads, Budweiser has spent the most ad dollars at just under USD$529m (£426.85m).
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