After years of speculation, the "quake" finally hit on June 27, 2025, when RTL Group announced a definitive agreement to acquire Sky Deutschland from Comcast.
: The merger aimed to create a media powerhouse with roughly 11.5 million paying subscribers , combining Sky’s sports rights (Bundesliga, Formula 1) with RTL’s entertainment and news brands. The Aftermath (April 2026) 2022---Pay-TV-quake--Sky-Germany-could-be-sold
The European Commission unconditionally approved the takeover on April 22, 2026, marking the final regulatory hurdle. RTL Group to acquire Sky Deutschland After years of speculation, the "quake" finally hit
: The deal included an additional payment of up to €377 million if RTL's share price reaches certain milestones within five years. RTL Group to acquire Sky Deutschland : The
Industry analysts noted that Sky Deutschland was "subscale" compared to its UK sister operation, lacking a telecommunications backbone to bundle with its TV services. This made it a heavy weight on Comcast’s European balance sheet, prompting the search for a buyer—potentially a German company that could merge it to achieve better scale. The Acquisition (June 2025)
In October 2022, rumors of a seismic shift in the European media landscape began to swirl when reports emerged that Comcast was considering offloading its German pay-TV unit, Sky Deutschland . What began as whispers of a "pay-TV quake" eventually culminated in a transformative deal nearly three years later. The Spark (October 2022)
: RTL paid an upfront purchase price of €150 million ($175 million), a fraction of the unit’s multi-billion euro valuation a decade prior.