back to article Culture sec consults Ofcom, OFT on BSkyB merger

Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt is writing to Ofcom and the Office of Fair Trading today to seek advice from the regulators over the proposed merger of television broadcaster BSkyB with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp empire. The move, reported by the BBC, follows the sudden shuttering of Sunday tabloid the News of the World. …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Devil

    There will be some interesting consequences...

    NoW was not the only company to flagrantly violate the RIPA act under the Blair government and get away with it.

    The bruhaha around it will most likely make untenable any HMG moves to defang the EU action against the other flagrant and well known RIPA violator.

    Popcorn please, this will be worth watching.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    Never let Idiots run the Country

    "Labour leader Ed Miliband is separately calling for a House of Commons vote"

    Which just shows how much of an over-ego'd twat Miliband really is. MPs are NOT QUALIFIED to make the decision, and votes would be placed purely to appease a public that is out for blood. Just think what an even bigger mess we'd be in if he was PM.

    My opinion is News Corp should NOT be permitted to buy BSkyB, but I am similarly not qualified to make that decision.

    1. Alex 14
      Go

      They don't need to be that bright

      He's proposing a vote on whether NI's takeover bid be delayed until after criminal investigations into the activities of one of their subsidiaries are complete.

      Seems like something MPs are capable of voting on because it's so very obvious which way the vote should go. They're not voting on whether to approve or reject the bid, they're voting on whether to wait to find out (amongst other things) whether the bid is coming from an organisation that knowingly employs criminals in senior positions.

      Disclaimer in the interests of getting this comment approved: I make no accusations, of course, but any investigation should seek to find out how far the rot went.

  3. s. pam Silver badge
    FAIL

    More Complete Twadle and the like

    "we'll consider our position after all the inquiries are done".

    In EngRish that means:

    "once we've not been caught up in this muck, &/or watched the dead body count stabilize we'll get off our lazy butts and do something. Likely what we will do will not be in the public interest, as, oops, the merger will have already happened".

    Or something very much like that. The Department of Indecision, Inaction and Fight Training has now spoken!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Naah

      This is where they've realised that Murdoch is no longer a good partner and they can't protect him so the best option available is to prevent Milliband from getting any credit for his inevitable downfall.

  4. Paul M 1

    Red tops

    Someone needs to explain to Rebekah that it's *her* name which has become toxic...

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Why bother?

    "Jeremy Hunt is writing to Ofcom and the Office of Fair Trading"

    Well that's a waste of time for a start!

  6. Tom 38

    They should be allowed to buy Sky

    As title. However, there should also now be a fit and proper persons test for owning a newspaper, and News international should not be considered fit and proper. I'm sure they can find buyers for their other papers.

  7. This post has been deleted by its author

  8. The Guv
    Alert

    Takeover - only if Sky is split!

    I don't mind if Murdoch takes over Sky provided it is split in the style that BT has to work under (ie. Sky Retail for sat services and Sky Wholesale selling content to Sky Retail, BT, Virgin etc at the same prices).

    If Murdoch gets Sky then the defences will be strengthened and this country will be pumping millions into a price inflated product just to get access to some premium channels. Already the Sky basic package costs £19 and for that there's only 2 decent Sky channels which have lots of adverts and sponsorships. It's £19 to subsidise free broadband and line pockets IMO.

    Get it Wholesaled so there's a chance of competition please!

    1. s. pam Silver badge
      Pint

      And in other idiocy...

      To follow up your Point @The Guv, we need to break up the Beeb at the same time. Fair justice for all, and the blood sucking mega paid twats^mouthpieces^announcers in the Beeb will be on the dole as well then.

      Mine's a pint

  9. Martin 63
    Unhappy

    Abandoning a brand

    This to me is odd. If you spend 150+ years building a brand, discarding it must, I hope, be a big decision. Potential gains must outweigh the loss. Im just really sorry for the people that worked there.

    By the way, I seldom read the paper (< 1 per year) ). Good luck to all prior employees

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Megaphone

    BT? Phorm?

    ""the other flagrant and well known RIPA violator."

    Are we not allowed to mention BT and Phorm by name any more?

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    People are asking.

    Q: Should Rupert Murdoch's television ambitions be affected by the revalations of imprepriety by his newspaper outlets?

    A: Have you ever watched Fox News?

  12. Suboptimal Planet

    FFS

    The BBC are a far more dominant force, and a far greater threat to democracy than Mr Murdoch. Don't pretend for one minute that they are impartial. They lost that long ago.

    At least we have the option of boycotting Murdoch's empire. We are forced to pay for the BBC.

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