Fox doubles Sky News guarantee to 10 years
February 20, 2018
21st Century Fox has strengthened its offer to protect the independence of Sky’s loss-making Sky News channel in a bid to overcome regulatory concerns about the takeover of the parent company.
Ofcom has previously said that Fox’s $15.7 billion deal to buy the 61 per cent of Sky it does not already own should be blocked unless a way was found to reduce the influence Murdoch could wield through the ownership of Sky News.
According to Reuters Fox has now pledged to maintain and fund a fully independent Sky-branded news service for 10 years, five years longer than it proposed last week when it set out the concessions it was willing to take to secure the deal.