Read this: Sky loses the battle over ITV, but its already won the war |Media |guardian.co.uk

Summary: If the biggest commercial terrestrial broadcaster and the cable operator had got together, Sky might have found itself with a rival it couldn't batter into submission. Meanwhile, NTL became Virgin Media but did not become a Sky-threatening giant. So, Sky will lose a few hundred million on the deal in cash terms. - guardian.co.uk