Ofcom to investigate BSkyB’s stake in ITV

BSkyB’s stake in ITV is to be investigated by Ofcom after being asked by the Trade and industry secretary Alistair Darling. Sky acquired a 17.9% stake in ITV in November which ultimately stopped any plans for their main competitor, Virgin Media from taking over ITV.

Ofcom must provide advice to Alistair Darling minister by April 27 on whether the case raises public interest concerns about the number of different owners of media enterprises.

Some have complained that BSkyB’s stake stifles competition and could prove a conflict of interest.

Under “cross-ownership rules”, Sky is not allowed to own more than 20% of ITV.

Reference for posting: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 27th, 2007 at 4:52 pm and is filed under BSKYB, ITV. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.