A number of constituents have been in touch with me about various concerns relating to the bid by 21st Century Fox to acquire the remaining shareholding in Sky.
As you will be aware, when the previous bid was made by News Corp, the matter was referred to Ofcom who gave clearance for the bid to proceed on condition that measures be taken to protect the independence of Sky News. Since that time the media market has changed dramatically.
The Pay TV market has seen new entrants such as Netflix, Amazon and BT resulting in a significant increase in competition. In news provision, the share of newspapers has declined further as a result of decreasing circulation and the most powerful providers are now the online companies like Google and Facebook.
Given this, I would be very surprised if Ofcom were to recommend that against the bid proceeding and see no reason for them to do so. However, I do agree that Ofcom should have the chance to assess whether there are any plurality concerns and expect that the Secretary of State will refer the matter to them.
