The United States-based Comcast’s Sky has agreed to buy the broadcast channels and streaming service of Britain’s ITV for £1.6 billion ($2.13 billion), creating a British champion to compete with global players YouTube, Netflix, Amazon and Disney.

Sky CEO Dana Strong said the deal — announced yesterday and confirming a Reuters story — was a “defining moment” in British broadcasting.

According to a Reuters report from London yesterday, the combination of Britain’s biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster, home of ‘Coronation Street’, and pay TV company Sky would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, but the rise of YouTube and the streaming giants has left traditional companies exposed.

The merger of the public service channels of ITV, and the leading pay TV business of Sky, founded by Rupert Murdoch in 1989, would account for more than 70 percent of the UK television advertising market, including contracts for third party broadcasters, analysts have said.

Strong said the deal would deliver “outstanding British programming” in a rapidly changing world, with ITV remaining “a public service ⁠broadcaster at the heart of British life.

ITV Chief Executive Carolyn McCall said the combination would benefit viewers and advertisers.

“At a time of really rapid change in viewer behaviour and growing competition from U.S. streamers for both audiences and advertisers, this deal strengthens British content investment,” she told reporters.

ITV will remain a public service broadcaster, safeguarded by its licence that lasts until 2034, with commitments in news and original content. In return, it has a prominent position on TVs and access to protected programming like the soccer World Cup.

Both companies expect the deal to face a lengthy antitrust review and public interest tests. To satisfy concerns, Sky may have to relinquish third-party ad sales contracts, for example for Paramount-owned Channel 5.

Caroline Dinenage, the lawmaker who chairs the cross-party media committee in (UK) Parliament, said a larger entity could have more clout but said viewers, advertisers and employees would all need reassurance.

News will be a focus for regulators and lawmakers. Sky has rolling news service Sky News, while ITV has national bulletins made by news provider ITN and its own regional news programmes.