Fox to go out of Murdoch’s house in Britain
London, Aug. 30: Rupert Murdoch has pulled his Fox News channel from the Sky platform in Britain, where the government is assessing a bid by the media mogul to buy the broader Sky pay-TV company for $15 billion.
In a statement, Mr Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox said it had decided it was no longer in its commercial interest to provide Fox News in Britain, where only a few thousand viewers watch it.
Critics of Murdoch and his company regularly cite the right-leaning Fox News channel as a reason why Murdoch should not be allowed to buy the 61 per cent of Sky it does not already own.
Fox agreed to buy full control of the European pay-TV group Sky in December, but the British government is still deciding whether to refer the deal for a full investigation which could add months to the approval process.
The government has not found any problems with Fox News is focussed on the US market and designed for a US audience and, accordingly, it averages only a few thousand viewers across the day in the UK 21st Century
Fox regard to Twenty-First Century Fox’s commitment to broadcasting standards, but it is examining whether the deal would give the company too much influence over the news agenda in the country.
“Fox News is focused on the US market and designed for a US audience and, accordingly, it averages only a few thousand viewers across the day in the UK”, the company said.
“We have concluded that it is not in our commercial interest to continue providing Fox News in the UK.”
The Fox News channel was no longer available on the Sky platform from Tuesday.
U.K. culture secretary Karen Bradley said in June that she was likely to refer 21st Century Fox’s purchase of Sky for an additional review, setting the merger up for many additional months of delays. Bradley said she was concerned that the transaction could give the Murdoch family too much influence over British media. The Murdochs already control three British newspapers — The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times.
The additional review would be conducted by Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority.
UK media regulator Ofcom ruled in June that the Murdochs and 21st Century Fox qualified as “fit and proper” holders of a UK broadcast license. But it also said it had found evidence of “significant failings” at Fox News. Ofcom said that accusations of sexual harassment against former Fox News boss Roger Ailes and former star host Bill O’Reilly had revealed “significant failings of the corporate culture.