Pie in the Sky eludes mogul

UK orders probe into Murdoch’s planned takeover of satellite TV giant

Cambridge/London, Sept. 14: Britain should judge Rupert Murdoch’s bid for broadcaster Sky on facts and not politics or risk stifling inward investment after Brexit, his son and fellow executive James Murdoch said on Thursday.

Appearing before an audience of media executives hours after the government referred TwentyFirst Century Fox’s $15 billion bid for a detailed investigation, James Murdoch struck a combative tone in defense of his family’s record in building a business that spans TV, film and news.

He was confident the country’s independent regulators would assess the deal on its merits and not be swayed by politicians with scores to settle over how his father’s newspapers had treated them over the decades.

“Whether or not 30 years ago someone had a grievance about a political position that a newspaper took that is no longer a part of the business is irrelevant,” said Mr Murdoch, who is chief executive of Twenty-First Century Fox and chairman of Sky.

“We have a clock on this now. We are confident it goes through.”

The Murdochs returned to buy full control of Sky in December 2016, more than five years after a phone-hacking scandal at their now-defunct News of the World tabloid sank a previous attempt. Since that failure, they have split their company in two, separating the newspapers from the entertainment assets to help to smooth the passage of the deal.

But their reputation remains damaged in Britain after a public inquiry revealed the close ties between Rupert Murdoch and prime ministers Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and David Cameron, creating the impression of puppetmaster Murdoch pulling the strings of the country’s politicians. In response, Theresa May’s government has been much more cautious, referring the bid for lengthy investigations and in one instance ignoring the advice of the media regulator Ofcom which had cleared it on grounds of broadcasting standards. Earlier on Thursday Media Secretary Karen Bradley said Fox would now need to prove it could uphold broadcasting standards during a six-month review in order to secure the deal, following a series of sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuits at the Murdoch’s Fox News network in the United States.

Responding to the decision, Sky said in a brief statement that it would “engage constructively” with the process, while its share price showed little reaction, gaining just over 0.1 percent to 933.25 pence.

As for Fox, it separately said it hoped Bradley would respect the independent findings of the CMA and voiced confidence that the deal would be completed by the middle of next year. “Subject to any further delays in the decision-making process, we anticipate that the transaction will close by June 30, 2018,” its statement said.

Whether or not 30 years ago someone had a grievance about a political position that a newspaper took that is no longer a part of the business is irrelevant — James Murdoch, CEO, 21st Century Fox