On Tuesday, Britain's top competition regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), provisionally rejected 21st Century Fox's bid to buy 61 percent of satellite broadcaster Sky because it is "not in the public interest." The CMA was looking at two questions — would the proposed merger lower broadcasting standards in Britain and would it give Rupert Murdoch and his family too much control over British media and opinion; it said no to the first question and yes to the second. Sky, owner of Sky News, and Fox will respond to CMA's objections and proposed workarounds, and Culture Secretary Matt Hancock will make the final decision by the middle of May.
Murdoch has been trying for years to purchase full control of Sky, which he launched in the early 1990s, and in December 2016 he made a $16.3 billion offer. But the CMA noted that the Murdoch Family Trust controls news outlets watched or read by nearly a third of the U.K.'s population. "Media plurality goes to the heart of our democratic process," Anne Lambert, chairwoman of the CMA's independent investigation group, told BBC News. "It is very important that no group or individual should have too much control of our news media or too much power to affect the political agenda."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
5 highly educational cartoons about student protestsCartoons Artists take on apolitical camping, the National Guard, and more
-
French schools and the scourge of teenage violenceTalking Point Gabriel Attal announces 'bold' intervention to tackle rise in violent incidents
-
On the trail of India’s wild lions at Sasan Gir National ParkThe Week Recommends The sanctuary is a 'roaring' conservation success
-
Empty-nest boomers aren't selling their big homesSpeed Read Most Americans 60 and older do not intend to move, according to a recent survey
-
Brazil accuses Musk of 'disinformation campaign'Speed Read A Brazilian Supreme Court judge has opened an inquiry into Elon Musk and X
-
Disney board fends off Peltz infiltration bidSpeed Read Disney CEO Bob Iger has defeated activist investor Nelson Peltz in a contentious proxy battle
-
Disney and DeSantis reach detenteSpeed Read The Florida governor and Disney settle a yearslong litigation over control of the tourism district
-
Visa and Mastercard agree to lower swipe feesSpeed Read The companies will cap the fees they charge businesses when customers use their credit cards
-
Reddit IPO values social media site at $6.4 billionSpeed Read The company makes its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange
-
Housing costs: the root of US economic malaise?speed read Many voters are troubled by the housing affordability crisis
-
Feds cap credit card late fees at $8speed read The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule to save households an estimated $10 billion a year
