Proactive Investors - Sky Media reportedly faces a substantial financial hit after it emerged that it had underpaid key advertising partners, including Warner Bros Discovery and Paramount, since 2017.
According to a report in The Guardian, the division, which sells ad space for Sky channels and other networks, identified the error earlier this year.
In the article, Sky confirmed that the underpayments predate its acquisition by Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) in 2018 but continued afterwards.
In response, Sky Media has begun reimbursing affected partners and implementing changes to prevent similar issues.
Some personnel changes have followed the error, which was not specifically disclosed in public records.
The payment miscalculation casts a spotlight on Sky’s ad sales practices, potentially prompting partners to reconsider contracts, The Guardian report notes.
Sky's advertising sales amounted to £1.2 billion last year. Sky Media previously secured high-profile ad deals, such as with Channel 5 in 2015, attributed to its innovative tools like the AdSmart platform.