News Corp would sell Sky News to save deal?
January 20, 2011
News Corp has told the UK government that it may be prepared to ‘separate’ Sky News from BSkyB if the concession meant avoiding a lengthy investigation into its takeover of the broadcaster.
According to the FT, talks between Rupert Murdoch’s media group and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have cited this as a possibility. The responsible minister, Jeremy Hunt, has said he will not engage in any horse trading prior to a referral decision and will stick rigidly to ‘due process.’ It is widely believed that Ofcom has strongly recommended the government refer the bid to the Competition Commission on the grounds that it could reduce the diversity of news provision in the UK below an acceptable level.