Sky says viewers in the UK may soon get Eddie Redmayne’s assassin thriller The Day of the Jackal on free to air television. Sky Studios CEO Cecile Frot-Coutaz confirmed at the Royal Television Society London Convention that the company plans to experiment with windowing its original series on ITV once the 1.6 billion pound takeover of ITV’s network operations closes. The idea is to replay earlier seasons of a show like The Day of the Jackal on ITV ahead of a new season launch. Sky ran a similar play when it put the first four seasons of Brassic on Netflix and found new viewers it did not have before.
The deal still needs regulatory approval and could take up to 18 months to complete. As part of the takeover, Sky agreed a 2.1 billion pound output deal that keeps shows like Love Island and Coronation Street on ITV until 2032. Sky also wants to test putting more sport on the free network, which could open the door to Premier League fixtures there.
For Jackal fans the practical takeaway is simple. Season 2 is coming to Sky and Peacock, and a season 1 catch up run on free ITV TV could follow once the takeover closes. If you have not started the thriller yet, season 1 is on Sky, Peacock and Prime Video now.