21st Century Fox in Sky News ringfence pledge

21st Century Fox has offered to shield Sky News from Rupert Murdoch’s influence and ensure its future for five years in an attempt to clinch a £11.7 billion takeover bid for satellite broadcaster Sky.

Murdoch-owned Fox, at the centre of its own agreed takeover approach from Walt Disney, yesterday tabled measures to “guarantee” the editorial independence of Sky News following concerns from Britain’s competition watchdog that a tie-up would hand Murdoch too much control over UK media.

It told the Competition & Markets Authority that it would set up an independent board charged with outlining Sky News’s editorial strategy and direction.

The CMA found last month that Fox’s deal to buy the 61 per cent of Sky it does not already own was “not in the public interest”.

The CMA suggested ways Fox could address its concerns, including spinning off Sky News.