In a letter delivered to UK business secretary Vince Cable, a coalition of British media owners have urged him to block the deal whereby Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp will acquire the 61% of BSkyB it does not already own. Media giants say the "proposed takeover could have serious and far-reaching consequences for media plurality".
The petition has been signed by the head of the right-leaning Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail newspapers as well as the left-leaning Guardian and Daily Mirror, and also by BBC director general Mark Thompson and Channel 4 chief executive David Abraham.
Just over a week ago the BBC’s Thompson told business channel Bloomberg’s Charlie Rose that the merger could constitute a possible "abuse of power’.
BSkyB originally rejected the £8 billion (R88 billion) offer as "too low". The two companies have since agreed to examine the potential regulatory implications of the deal, before reaching agreement on a price.
If News Corp. were to wholly own BSkyB, which now has almost 10 million subscribers, it would be able to underwrite its cashflow with Sky’s £626 million (R6,8 billion) annual contribution on revenues of almost £6 billion (R66 billion).
