James Moore: Murdoch a safe bet to get Sky deal past regulatory firewall
It’s back to the top of the hill for Rupert Murdoch with his attempt to get the acquisition of satellite broadcaster Sky by his 21st Century Fox past the regulatory firewall.
The latest attempt to break through it is a proposal to set Sky News up as a legally separate entity within the group.
Cute, because it’s an idea that looks quite similar to the deal Ofcom agreed with BT over its broadband infrastructure arm Openreach.
Under Fox’s proposals, accepted this morning by Sky, the news channel would have its own board with five to seven directors, chaired by an “independent expert” with experience of journalism along with three Sky independent directors.
The claim is that this will strengthen guarantees of the news channel’s editorial independence.
An initial offer was rejected by the Competition & Markets Authority, because of the Murdoch family’s control of nearly a third of the “national voice” (TV, radio, newspapers, websites).
A further twist is that Sky News could be flipped over to Disney immediately after the “separation” is complete, regardless of whether Disney gets the approvals it is attempting to secure so it can then buy Fox.
It’s a tangled web indeed.
Whether legal separation secures Sky News’s independence is an open question given who ultimately controls the appointment of the directors.
As for independence day as a part of Disney, what happens to Disney if it doesn’t get Fox?
That is a real possibility given that deal has regulatory issues, not to mention cable giant Comcast’s interest in Sky.
Much depends on just how punchy the CMA is feeling.
So it’s probably safe to put a few quid on Murdoch, all things considered.
