Sky Says Failed Fox Deal Could Mean End to Sky News
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority shouldn't assume Sky News will continue to be provided if Fox's planned buy of Sky doesn't go through, Sky said Tuesday in a CMA filing. It said it would "likely be prompted to review…
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the position" if the provision of Sky News unduly impedes the Fox deal or other such deals. In a separate CMA filing Tuesday, Fox said there isn't one editorial position shared by News Corp. newspapers with which Sky News content "could even theoretically be aligned." It said overlap of exclusively Sky News and News Corp. news consumers is small, so the deal doesn't hurt diversity. And it said Ofcom considers Fox's compliance with UK broadcasting standards good, and thus "there is no plausible, let alone likely, risk" Fox wouldn't maintain Sky's commitment to broadcasting standards. U.K. Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Karen Bradley in September referred Fox/Sky to CMA for a full, six-month investigation (see 1709140020). CMA said provisional findings are due in December.