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Cable orders OfCom to investigate Murdoch's plans to buy rest of BSkyB

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

November 4, 2010 | 2 min read

Ofcom has been ordered to investigate Rupert Murdoch’s plans to take full control of BSkyB.

The investigation in whether this will affect ‘media plurality’ has been instigated by Business Secretary Vince Cable, with Murdoch’s business News Corportation looking to take on the rest of the company that it does not already own (61%).

BSkyB’s competitors have written to Cable to express concerns at the move by News Corporation, with a separate European Investigation into the affects that such a deal would have on broadcast competition already set to be announced in early December.

Cable has tasked Ofcom with reporting back on the investigation by 31 December.

Tim Daniels, TMT Strategist at Olivetree Securities said: "This should not come as a real surprise. Political lobbying has been fierce in recent months and this enables him to defer a decision to the independent regulator, effectively absolving him of the need to make a politically sensitive choice. The decision to leave the anti-trust review to the EU authorities will be seen as good news; News Corp have worked hard behind the scenes since announcing this deal to address any potential issues.

"The anti-trust picture is straightforward; this really is only a question of public-interest in the UK. Expect to see a lot of debate on this in coming months. We would be surprised to see any real weakness in BSkyB shares today. It is only the speed of Cable's intervention which raises any eyebrows for us.”

Ofcom News Corp Sky

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