This is the important bit
You asked to see the Claire Enders’ memo to Vincent Cable, setting out why Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp shouldn’t be allowed to buy the 61 per cent of Sky it does not own. Well, this being the era of wikileaks, it is appropriate to publish the full text and allow folks to make up their own minds.
(Scroll down for the link if you want to just get on with it)
It’s divided into three parts. There’s analysis of the UK television market up to 2014, followed by a similar set of projections about the British newspaper business. These set out a straightforward economic case as to why a combined News/Sky could cause competition problems, as it brings together the number one newspaper company with the number one broadcaster.
However, the most interesting section starts at page 16, which argues why a combined News Corp/Sky could be damaging for media plurality in the UK. Lazy types should head right over there. It’s important, too, because plurality represents one of the two grounds that could give rise to blocking a News Corp/Sky combination (the other, by the way, are straightforward competition criteria).
In process terms, by the way, here’s where we are. News Corp has to file for merger approval for its proposed buyout to the European Commission. It goes to Europe because of the size of the deal. Europe then has to decide to whether to waive the deal through, do a more detailed phase two enquiry or bounce it back to the UK regulators. You’d think that the third of those is the most likely outcome because this is basically a deal with UK implications, but we’ll see.
If it goes to Britain, then it is for competition watchdogs to decide whether to block the deal on economic grounds…or for a politician – Vincent Cable in theory – to decide whether to review the deal on grounds of media plurality. In English, that means will a deal lead to a concentration of voice – diversity of opinion being a good thing in a democracy and all that.
Which is why part three is so important.
So, it’s here, in a glorious PDF. Click away to read…
