BSkyB takeover - tears before bedtime?

I suspect I’m not the only observer who feels somehow dissatisfied with the recent clearance of News Corporation’s takeover of BSkyB, ‘the fight that never was’.  A few months back, before Vince Cable lost control of the matter, many of us would have placed serious bets on the move being blocked. As Ivan Lewis, shadow culture secretary, said at that time: "The Murdoch empire has sometimes crossed reasonable boundaries with overzealous business practices and the assertion of political power. There is a case to answer, and the public interest can only be determined through proper scrutiny by the competent authorities."

And I think that sums it up: the concern was about both media plurality and the potential effects on competition.  However, the latter were subsequently taken out of play by the European Commission's clearance of the deal under EU merger regulation, leaving the more recent assessment by Ofcom to be confined to plurality issues.  That in itself has proved to be tricky balancing act for the UK regulator, the challenge being to ensure that editorial separation of Sky News does not undermine its long term financial support. 

And yet, there remains a nagging feeling that plurality ought not to have been the only game in town.  While Joaquín Almunia, the EU competition commissioner, might be ‘confident that this merger will not weaken competition in the United Kingdom’, I think some of us would have liked the UK authorities to make their own judgement on that. Listening to Ed Richards on yesterday’s Media Show on Radio 4, I rather think he agrees…