21st Century Fox Faces a Showdown with British Regulators
As part of their review, British regulators are scrutinizing whether 21st Century Fox meets the country’s broadcasting standards
and whether the 11.7 billion pound, or $14.9 billion, takeover would unfairly hamper the British media landscape.
When the company tried to acquire Sky in 2010, Ofcom criticized James Murdoch’s handling of a phone hacking scandal at The News of the World, a British newspaper — since shuttered —
that was then part of News Corporation, a predecessor to 21st Century Fox.
By MARK SCOTT and EMILY STEELJUNE 19, 2017
Rupert Murdoch’s legacy as a media mogul will be tested on Tuesday when British regulators report to the government
whether 21st Century Fox should be allowed to buy the rest of Sky, the British satellite giant.
Two politically independent British regulators — the Office of Communications, or Ofcom,
and the Competition and Markets Authority — were asked by the government to review 21st Century Fox’s proposed takeover of Sky soon after the deal was announced in December.